Blake R. Van Leer | |
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5th President of the Georgia Institute of Technology | |
In office 1944–1956 | |
Preceded by | Marion L. Brittain |
Succeeded by | Edwin D. Harrison |
Dean of Engineering University of Florida | |
In office 1932–1937 | |
Dean of Engineering North Carolina State University | |
In office 1937–1941 | |
Berkeley City Council | |
In office 1924–1932 | |
Personal details | |
Born | August 16, 1893 Mangum, Oklahoma |
Died | January 23, 1956 Atlanta, Georgia | (aged 62)
Alma mater | Purdue University University of Caen Normandy University of California, Berkeley |
Occupation | University president |
Awards | Croix de Guerre |
Military service | |
Branch/service | ![]() |
Years of service | 1917–1953 |
Rank | ![]() |
Commands | ![]() |
Battles/wars | World War I World War II |
Blake Ragsdale Van Leer (August 16, 1893 – January 23, 1956) was the president of Georgia Institute of Technology from 1944 until his death.
Early life and education
Van Leer was born in Mangum, Oklahoma. After his father's death in 1897 he lived in a Masonic Orphanage in Fort Worth, Texas.[1] He graduated with honours from Purdue University in 1915 with a degree in Electrical Engineering.[2][3] In 1924 he married Ella Lillian Wall in Berkeley, California.[4]
His daughter Maryly V. Peck also became an engineer[5] and college president.
Dean and officer
From 1932 to 1937 he was a Dean at the University of Florida.[6] In 1937 he became the Dean of the School of Engineering at NC State University.[7] While there he initiated as an honorary of the NCSU chapter of Theta Tau Professional Engineering Fraternity.[8] Around 1940, with the permission of Dean Harrelson, Van Leer gave half his time towards the North Carolina Office for Defense orders. He resigned his post as Dean in 1942 to take a military leave.[9] During the war he served as a U.S. Army officer (attaining the rank of colonel), after which he returned to lead the school.[10]
Georgia Tech
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20220704203814im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Van_Leer_Building_entrance.jpg/220px-Van_Leer_Building_entrance.jpg)
After World War II he returned to become the President of Georgia Tech. During his tenure the school admitted women for the first time[11] and began steps toward integration.[clarification needed][12]
Van Leer died of a heart attack on January 24, 1956, at the Atlanta Veterans Hospital.[13]
See also
References
- ^ "Beyond the Chain Link Lay the Kingdom of the Mighty Mites". hometownbyhandlebar.com. hometown. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
- ^ "Campusonalities". The Georgia Tech Alumnus (January–February): 9. 1951. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
- ^ United States. Congress. House. Committee on Armed Services (1947). Full Committee Hearings on Universal Military Training. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 4333.
- ^ Van Leer (Family). "Biography of Van Leer Family". Georgia Tech Library. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
- ^ "Mother's an Engineer". Life. 1962. pp. 102–106.
- ^ "History of the ECE Department: 1930-1939". UFL. Archived from the original on 2010-06-03. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
- ^ "Van Leer, Blake Ragsdale, 1893-". NC State University Libraries. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
- ^ Georgia Tech's Auditorium Gymnasium (1944). "Col. Van Leer and Dr. Brittain Elected by Regent Board - Cont'd". The Georgia Tech Alumnus. March–April: 66.
- ^ "Guide to the North Carolina State University College of Engineering Annual Reports". NCSU. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
- ^ Van Leer (Family). "Biography of Van Leer Family". Georgia Tech Library. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
- ^ "Women: 30 Years at Tech". Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine. Vol. 58, no. 1. Georgia Tech Alumni Association. 1982. pp. 9–13.
- ^ McMath, p.282
- ^ "Blake Van Leer, Educator, Dead; Georgia Tech President Was 62--Barred Cancellation of Bowl Game Over Negro Hailed by Faculty Basketball Game Off". The New York Times. January 24, 1956.
Works cited
- Robert C. McMath; Ronald H. Bayor; James E. Brittain; Lawrence Foster; August W. Giebelhaus; Germaine M. Reed (1985). Engineering the New South: Georgia Tech 1885–1985. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press. ISBN 0-8203-0784-X.
- United States. Congress. House. Committee on Armed Services (1947). Full Committee Hearings on Universal Military Training. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 4333.