Lattie F. Coor, President

In his 1990 presidential inauguration address, Lattie F. Coor summarized his philosophy of University leadership in a single sentence: "Excellence must be the hallmark of everything we do."

During his tenure as the 15th president of Arizona State University, Coor has maintained that commitment, and under his leadership, ASU has found its place in the top tier of major metropolitan research universities Ð one university with multiple campuses, serving nearly 49,000 students from all 50 states and 130 nations around the world.

ASU is the only research university serving metropolitan Phoenix, the state's center of government, business and industry, the home and work place for 62 percent of the population of Arizona.

"Arizona State University plays an indispensable and transformational role in this dynamic and rapidly-growing community," Coor says. "Our roots are deeply intertwined with those of metropolitan Phoenix.

"We take very seriously our responsibility for offering all the benefits that a major population center needs and expects from its university, from highest quality teaching and research, to readily accessible education and truly responsive community and neighborhood partnerships."

Under Coor's guidance, ASU has become a model research university for the 21st Century. Working closely with community leaders, the University provides indispensable research and support for the major issues affecting the quality of life in the Valley of the Sun.

Coor has emphasized that ASU must draw on the strength of the diversity of Arizona's population, and the university must reflect that diversity in its own ranks of faculty, staff and students. Over the last ten years, under Coor's leadership, minority enrollment at ASU has increased almost 70 percent. In the past five years, the proportion of minority faculty has increased from 10.3 percent to 15.3 percent.

Highlights of Coor's presidency include:

The President's Undergraduate Education Initiative
"Student-centered responsiveness is integral to a great university," Coor says. His Undergraduate Education Initiative supports the development of personal, human scale communities within the larger university as well as streamlining the curriculum, emphasizing reduced class sizes, and increasing the numbers of senior faculty teaching lower division courses.

"We want ASU students to have all the advantages of a small college experience within the wonderfully diverse environment of a major research university," Coor says.

Student Academic Achievement
Student Academic Achievement has gained unprecedented national attention for ASU during Coor's presidency, with students winning top national awards, including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and Marshall fellowships.

The increasing quality of students entering ASU is evidence Coor's strategy is working. The 1999-00 freshman class had a record 132 National Merit Scholars, placing ASU 12th out of 381 participating schools nationwide and sixth among 140 public schools. The Barrett Honors College at ASU is at its largest enrollment, 2,641, making it one of the largest and most sought-after honors colleges in the country. In six of the last seven years, ASU has had a student on USA Today's list of the nation's top 20 undergraduates. No other public institution in the country has had so many students win the award.

The President's Research and Graduate Education Initiative
The Research and Graduate Education Initiative focuses on selective investments in major interdisciplinary research matching the needs of metropolitan Phoenix to the rich array of internationally-respected talent and expertise within the University faculty. Research funding has doubled within the University since 1993.

The concept of One University with Multiple Campuses
In keeping with Coor's vision of ASU as a "world class university serving the Valley of the Sun through multiple campuses and facilities", ASU now serves the Greater Phoenix metropolitan area from three anchor campuses, ASU Main, ASU West and ASU East, as well as an Extended Campus providing a wide spectrum of locations, programs, schedules and technologies to match the needs of the students of the 21st Century--often working adults struggling with family responsibilities, full days, and the professional demands of rapidly-evolving technology and a global economy.

The President's University for the Next Century Initiative
The University for the Next Century Initiative emphasizes matching university talents and expertise with the vision of community leaders to shape the future of metropolitan Phoenix. The initiative fosters community and neighborhood partnerships, and focuses on the development of a workforce to meet the increasingly complex demands of the 21st Century.

"This is a program of continuous change and reaffirmation for ASU and the community," Coor says. "We are committed to riding the forces of change without trampling the past."

The Campaign for Leadership
The Campaign for Leadership is a $400 million capital fundraising effort introduced in 1997. The campaign is focused almost solely on people rather than bricks and mortar. "The success of our Campaign for Leadership will be measured in direct human impact," said Coor. "Our focus is on people -- great teachers, great students and great communities."

Since Coor assumed the Presidency of ASU in 1989-90, the University endowment has advanced from $26.1 million to $314 million, endowed faculty positions have grown from six to 68, and ASU is awarding more student scholarships than ever before.

Coor is active on the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land Grant Universities and also serves on the American Council on Education Community Leadership and Institutional Effectiveness. He is a member of the Greater Phoenix Leadership and on the Deer Creek (MO) Foundation Board of Directors.

He is a proud Arizona native, born in Phoenix. His father graduated from ASU and was a member of the 1928 ASU Bulldog football team. His mother continues to attend every ASU home game.

Coor has been on college campuses since 1954 when he arrived as a Phelps Dodge Scholar at Northern Arizona University (then Arizona State College in Flagstaff). Graduating with honors in 1958, Coor pursued graduate studies in political science at Washington University in St. Louis, earning a master's degree in 1960 and a doctoral degree in 1964.

Coor has spent the past 24 years as a university president, serving 14 years as president of the University of Vermont before assuming the ASU presidency in 1990.