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DePauw to dedicate new alumni center in honor of Bottoms
DePauw University will honor its 18th and longest-serving president, Bob Bottoms, by dedicating the new alumni and development center that bears his name.
The campus and community are invited to attend the dedication ceremonies and open house for the Robert G. Bottoms Alumni and Development Center, located at 201 E. Seminary St., on Friday, Oct. 12, beginning at 1:30 p.m.
The president emeritus, who retired in 2008, will return to campus for the event.
“Under the leadership of Bob Bottoms, DePauw – which had been a respected Midwestern institution – became a nationally recognized liberal arts college. He transformed DePauw,” current president D. Mark McCoy said. “Our endowment grew more than five-fold, we attracted world-class faculty, and perhaps most critically, DePauw recognized that its campus needed to reflect the world graduates will live in, and the president made diversity and inclusion a priority.
“DePauw University became a much stronger entity, thanks to the leadership and vision of Dr. Bottoms. All of his many friends look forward to welcoming him back to this place he loves, and which owes him so much gratitude.”
A native of Birmingham, Ala., Bottoms earned his bachelor’s degree at Birmingham-Southern College, a Bachelor of Divinity degree at Emory University, and his doctorate at Vanderbilt University.
His career in higher education began when he was appointed chaplain and assistant to the president at Birmingham-Southern College. He later moved to the Vanderbilt Divinity School as assistant dean and assistant professor of church and ministry.
In 1978, DePauw selected Bottoms as its vice president for university relations. He subsequently advanced to executive vice president of the university before being named president in 1986, succeeding Richard F. Rosser.
During Bottoms’ tenure at the helm of DePauw, the university became an institution with much greater diversity and resources:
• In 2008, 14 percent of DePauw’s faculty members were minorities, up from three percent in 1986.
• In 2008, 16.4 percent of DePauw’s students were from diverse cultural backgrounds – it was 3.5 percent when Bottoms assumed the presidency.
• DePauw partnered with the Posse Foundation – a youth leadership development and college access organization – in 1986. DePauw became the first college in the nation to host two Posse groups (from New York and Chicago). The Posse program sends highly qualified students from diverse backgrounds to selective colleges and universities throughout the country.
• The DePauw faculty grew from 154 to 241 during the Bottoms presidency, while the university’s student-faculty ratio decreased from 15:1 to 10:1.
• Total endowing resources grew from $83.2 million when Bottoms assumed the presidency to $544 million.
• Approximately $190 million was invested in 17 new and renovated buildings and improvements to the campus infrastructure. Key projects included the expansion and renovation of the Judson and Joyce Green Center for the Performing Arts and the Percy L. Julian Science and Mathematics Center, the Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics, the DePauw Nature Park, the F.W. Olin Biological Sciences Building, the Eugene S. Pulliam Center for Contemporary Media, Rector Village, the indoor tennis and track center, Humbert Hall and new duplexes for students.
• More than $550 million was raised for the university during the Bottoms presidency.
Bottoms procured a $128 million scholarship endowment gift – at the time (1998) the largest gift ever received by a liberal arts college in America – from Philip Forbes Holton ‘29 and Ruth Clark Holton ‘29, who attended DePauw but did not graduate from the university, left more than $128 million for scholarship endowment.
The Holton gift fueled alumni giving that pushed The Campaign for DePauw: Leadership for a New Century to a final total of more than $376 million – at the time, the largest campaign total achieved by a liberal arts college in the United States.
President Bottoms was named a “Posse Star” in 2004. He was the 2000 recipient of the CASE V Chief Executive Leadership Award. In September 2002, the Chronicle of Higher Education cited Bottoms as one of America’s long-term college presidents who have had both staying power and success.
Deborah Bial, president and founder of the Posse Foundation, has stated, “Dr. Bottoms is a man with vision for a society less divided, an American community less blinded by bias. He has worked both openly and in very subtle ways to build a more enlightened population of young people. Because of him, thousands of young people – and hundreds of Posse Scholars – have had their lives changed for the better, forever.”
In announcing his retirement 10 years ago, Bottoms recalled his time at DePauw fondly, but said he was ready for the next chapter of his life.
“I have great love for this college and its people, but after 21 years in this position, I feel the time is right to make this move,” Bottoms said as he announced his retirement in April 2007. “Being a college president is a very rewarding, yet personally demanding job. I look forward to spending more time with my wife, Gwen, and our children and grandchildren.”
Bottoms has had national influence on issues of education and leadership through his service on the boards of the Posse Foundation, Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Chicago, the Joyce Foundation in Chicago, and the Center for Leadership Development in Indianapolis.
In addition, Bottoms has been a consultant to the Lilly Endowment, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations and the Fund for Theological Education. The president has written articles and opinion pieces for the New York Times, Indianapolis Star and Chicago Tribune, and appeared on NBC’s “Today Show.”
His wife Gwen, who earned a bachelor’s degree from Auburn University and a master’s degree from Indiana University, was a dedicated leader of the DePauw and Greencastle communities. They raised two children, David and Leslie, in Greencastle, and Gwen Bottoms is known as an ambassador for all things DePauw.
“DePauw has been a primary source of meaning for my life and it will continue to be,” Bottoms said. “History can judge what kind of a president I have been for this institution, but of one thing I am certain – I have been honored to serve.”
A major capital gift from Timothy and Sharon Ubben, 1958 graduates and two of the greatest benefactors in DePauw’s 181-year history, made possible the new home for the college’s development and alumni engagement division. The Ubbens requested the building be named the Robert G. Bottoms Alumni and Development Center to honor the university’s 18th president for his leadership and lasting influence.
Steve Setchell, vice president for alumni and development, said, “Oct. 12 will be a day to share our love for DePauw with people who have contributed so much to the university over the past half-century. I welcome all – students, alumni, faculty, staff, community members and friends of DePauw – to join us in celebrating the leadership and legacy of President Bottoms, whose influence will be felt for many generations to come.”