Stout library renamed for former chancellor
By UW-Stout News Bureau,Special to The News
Wednesday, October 10, 2007 9:58 AM CDT
MENOMONIE — The University of Wisconsin-Stout Library Learning Center will be named after former Chancellor Robert S. Swanson, the UW System Board of Regents decided Friday.
Meeting at UW-River Falls, the regents approved a proposal from UW-Stout Chancellor Charles W. Sorensen that the Library Learning Center’s name be changed to the Robert S. Swanson Learning Center.
A ceremony honoring Swanson and celebrating the new name of the learning center will be held at 10 a.m., Tuesday, Nov. 6, at the learning center, 315 10th Ave. East.
Sorensen said naming the library after Swanson is appropriate because “he dedicated his life to UW-Stout, to furthering the educational quality of the region and state.”
Sorensen continued, “The learning center is more than a symbol of the university — it is the very soul of the university. It is an honor to recognize Bob Swanson in this manner.”
Long affiliation
Swanson served as chancellor from 1972-1988, but that was just one part of his long affiliation with the university. He began his studies at the Stout Institute in 1942, served in the U.S. Army during World War II and returned to the university in 1946. He taught during his junior and senior years, and while pursuing his master’s degree. In 1950, he became a full-time faculty member, teaching general shop. He eventually earned his doctorate at the University of Minnesota.
Swanson moved up the academic ranks from department chair, assistant dean and dean of the School of Applied Science and Technology, and then dean of the Graduate College. Swanson started as chancellor in 1972.
He used his inaugural address to state once and for all what he believed to be UW-Stout’s purpose — preparing students for a successful career after graduation.
“Let us admit — yes, even advertise — that Stout’s major emphasis is, and will continue to be, career preparation,” Swanson said in his speech. “Stout will continue to be pragmatic in its approach. Let it be known that we do concern ourselves with the preparation of people to earn a living upon graduation.”
Honesty and integrity
Swanson then worked with the UW System Board of Regents to have UW-Stout designated a special mission institution, which the board approved in January 1974.
Many words have been used to describe Swanson’s tenure, but two are used most often — honesty and integrity.
With Swanson as chancellor, the new learning center opened its doors to the public in early 1982. The design of much of the $6.7 million structure had current as well as future technology in mind.
Today the learning center has holdings of more than a million items, including audiovisual resources, journals, books and microformats. A computerized access system allows rapid searching for information from both within the library and online. |
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Dawn O'Brien wrote on Oct 11, 2007 3:31 PM: