John Edward Cribbet | |
---|---|
3rd Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | |
In office 1979–1984 | |
Preceded by | William P. Gerberding |
Succeeded by | Thomas Eugene Everhart |
(acting, 1979) | |
Personal details | |
Born | Findlay, Illinois, U.S. | February 21, 1918
Died | May 23, 2009 | (aged 91)
Alma mater |
Illinois Wesleyan University (BA) University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (JD) |
Profession | University administrator, professor |
John Edward Cribbet (February 21, 1918 – May 23, 2009) was a well-known legal scholar, dean of the University of Illinois College of Law, and chancellor of the University of Illinois. [1] [2]
Cribbet was born in Findlay, Illinois, just outside Decatur. [1] His mother raised him after his father died from the Spanish flu. [1] Cribbet received his undergraduate degree from Illinois Wesleyan University. [1] There, he met his wife Betty Smith. [1] After graduation, Cribbet joined the Army for World War II. He served as an aide-de-camp for Lt. Gen. Troy H. Middleton on the European front. [1] His service produced a number of medals and stories, which he would later relate in his popular law lectures. [1]
Cribbet then decided to attend the University of Illinois College of Law where he received his J.D. degree in 1947. [1] [3] He spent a few months in law practice in Bloomington, Illinois, at the law firm of Costigan, Wollrab, and Yoder before he was invited back to the University of Illinois to teach law. [1] [3] As a professor, he held visiting positions at the University of Michigan Law School and the University of Texas School of Law. [3] In 1967 he was appointed as dean of the law school, a position he held until 1979 when he was asked to serve as chancellor of the campus. [1] [4]
Cribbet was survived by his wife Betty; his two daughters, Pamela Steward and Carol Cribbet-Bell; five grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. [1]
Cribbet was named acting chancellor on July 1, 1979, after William P. Gerberding left the position for the presidency of the University of Washington. [4] The University of Illinois Board of Trustees formally named Cribbet as chancellor in December of that year. [4] At the time of Cribbet's appointment University President Stanley O. Ikenberry had positive words for the new Chancellor. He stated Chancellor Cribbet "[would] bring to the position of chancellor extensive experience as an academic leader, what [he had] found to be an extraordinary soundness of judgment, and an absolutely superb reputation in his profession." [4] For his part, the new chancellor told the press that he would strive to "strengthen the voice" of students and faculty in campus governance. [4]
While still in his capacity as acting chancellor, Cribbet was involved in the decision to terminate Illinois Football head coach Gary Moeller after the coach posted a disappointing 6-24-3 record in three seasons. [5] The Illinois athletic director, Neale Stoner, made the recommendation to terminate Moeller, a recommendation which was later approved by the university's board of trustees in an 8-1 vote. [5] Prior to the vote, Moeller met with Chancellor Cribbet and President Ikenberry and pleaded for his job. A bitter Moeller called the decision "unfair to everyone in the program." [5] Moeller also chided the decision for not coinciding with the university's educational mission. [5] Chancellor Cribbet and Stoner would later oversee the hiring of Mike White after a search that included future Illinois football coach John Mackovic as a candidate. [6]
During his chancellorship, Cribbet reluctantly oversaw another athletics dispute that would threaten Illinois' membership in the Big Ten Conference. [7] The dispute involved the eligibility of quarterback David Wilson. [7] The Big Ten had charged Illinois with misrepresentation, deception, lack of cooperation, and failing to comply with conference rules. [7] It sanctioned the Illinois athletics program with a ban in postseason competition in all sports and the loss of conference revenues. [7] Illinois football coach Mike White and Athletic Director Neale Stoner reportedly threatened to resign if the university did not defend itself against the charges. [7] The university vigorously responded with a 34-page rebuttal denying any wrongdoing. [7] Chancellor Cribbet attributed some of the problems to the university's large bureaucracy; operational staff made innocent, unintentional errors in petitions and materials that were not known to university officials. [7] He would lament: "I had high hopes of being able to make some contribution to the solution to the many troubling problems [in intercollegiate athletics] surfacing in the mass media. Now I fear I shall be known, in athletic circles, only as the chancellor who was involved in the Wilson case, a fact which truly saddens me." [7]