Fawcett speaking during his Inauguration, 1957
President No. 8 for Ohio State was Novice G. Fawcett, a native of Gambier, Ohio, who was born in 1909. He had never served in higher education until he was tapped as president in 1957, but his skills as a public school system administrator helped him move the university forward significantly and allowed him to weather a number of significant crises during his 16-year term.
After attending Kenyon College (where he graduated in 1931), Fawcett earned a master’s degree in education from OSU in 1937. At the same time, he served as the superintendent of schools in Gambier. A year later, he became superintendent of schools for Defiance, Ohio, then for Bexley, Ohio, in 1943. In 1947, he became assistant superintendent for Akron and became superintendent for Columbus Public Schools in 1949. Fawcett served with then-OSU President Howard Bevis on the Ohio Committee on Expanding Student Population before his inauguration as OSU President on April 29, 1957.
When Fawcett assumed his duties as president of OSU, 21,000 students attended the Columbus campus, $2 million was spent on research annually, and buildings and equipment were valued at $88 million. In his inaugural address, “Toward a New Level of Greatness,” he laid out an ambitious plan to move the University forward in a number of ways, such as research, continuing education, administrative improvement and the use of new technologies in the classroom. When he retired in 1972, 50,000 students attended OSU’s main and new regional campuses, $26 million was spent annually on research, and the value of buildings and equipment neared $400 million.
Fawcett’s term was also a time of significant social disruption and turbulence on campus. Among the subjects of student demonstrations were discrimination in university housing and off-campus housing, the “Speaker’s Rule,” which restricted who could speak on campus, and was considered an abridgement of free speech. Women’s rights, minority rights, and the Vietnam War also were key topics of dissent.
Speaker’s Rule Demonstration, 1965
One of the highlights of Fawcett’s tenure was the creation of the Office of Continuing Education, which was originally housed at the Center for Tomorrow on Olentangy River Road. To honor Fawcett’s role in creating this division, and for his legacy at the University as a whole, the building was renamed the Novice G. Fawcett Center for Tomorrow in June 1972, two months before Fawcett left office.
Fawcett Center, 1975
Fawcett died in 1998; he was 79 years old.
1970
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