Arthur Gene "Art" Hansen (February 28, 1925 – July 5, 2010) was a

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

and former

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of several American universities.

Education and early career

Hansen joined the

United States Marine Corps Reserve The Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES or MFR), also known as the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, is the reserve force of the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Corps Reserve is an expedit ...

and was sent to

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

as part of the Navy's V-12 program. He earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1946 and returned to Purdue for his master's degree in mathematics in 1948. During this time, he also was a member of the

Phi Gamma Delta Phi Gamma Delta (), commonly known as Phi Gam and sometimes written as FIJI, is a North American social fraternity with 139 active chapters and 13 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania ...

fraternity. For the next ten years, Hansen worked as an aeronautical research scientist at NASA's

Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory NASA John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field is a NASA center within the cities of Brook Park, Ohio, Brook Park and Cleveland between Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and the Rocky River Reservation of Cleveland Metroparks, with a s ...

, while teaching mathematics at

John Carroll University John Carroll University (JCU) is a Private university, private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio, United States. Located in a suburb of Cleveland, it is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts college, liberal arts institution compo ...

and

Baldwin–Wallace College Baldwin Wallace University (BW) is a private university in Berea, Ohio, United States. Established in 1845 as Baldwin Institute by Methodist businessman John Baldwin, it merged with nearby German Wallace College in 1913 to become Baldwin-Wallac ...

. Hansen received his doctorate in mathematics from

Case Institute of Technology Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

in 1958. Hansen also holds several honorary degrees. In 1959, Hansen joined the faculty of the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, where he taught and wrote two textbooks about

fluid mechanics Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids (liquids, gases, and plasma (physics), plasmas) and the forces on them. Originally applied to water (hydromechanics), it found applications in a wide range of discipl ...

, despite never having taken a formal class on the subject. He later rose to chairman of the university's mechanical engineering department. At

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

, Hansen served as dean of engineering and, from 1969 to 1971, president of the Institute. New facilities for chemistry, civil engineering, physics, and student activities were built during his presidency.

Later career

He accepted the position of president at

from 1971 to 1982, the first Purdue alumnus to do so. Following the late-1960s wave of student unrest, Hansen worked to improve the students' confidence in the university administration. He often hosted open events at his house near the campus, and in 1975 a state law added a student member to the board of trustees. Hansen responded to inflation and state budget cuts by implementing several long-term private fundraising initiatives. These included a newspaper for alumni and parents of students, a phonathon, and a President's Council of donors with which to discuss university matters. These measures helped fund the construction of new buildings for agriculture, athletics, engineering, life sciences, nursing, psychology, and technology. In 1982, Hansen left Purdue to become chancellor of the

Texas A&M University System The Texas A&M University System is a state university system in Texas and is one of the state's seven independent university systems. The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the United States, with a ...

. He was an advocate of increased minority recruitment and worked to improve the stature of

Prairie View A&M University Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU or PV) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Prairie View, Texas, United States. Founded in 1876, it is one of Texas's two lan ...

, a historically-black member of the Texas A&M System. Several high-profile academics—including three Nobel laureates—joined the Texas A&M faculty during Hansen's chancellorship. The university system's mission expanded during this time to include programs to help inventors, entrepreneurs, and elementary and secondary school administrators. Hansen left this post in 1986 to become the director of research of the

Hudson Institute Hudson Institute is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1961 in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporation. Kahn ...

and an educational consultant until his retirement. After his retirement, Hansen made his home in Zionsville, Indiana, and then in Fort Myers, Florida, where he died on July 5, 2010.

Legacy

The Arthur G. Hansen Life Sciences Research Building on the Purdue University campus was named in honor of Hansen. On September 24, 2002, Hansen donated US$1.8 million to Purdue for the construction of a

proscenium A proscenium (, ) is the virtual vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor itself, which serves as the frame ...

theater named after his wife, Nancy Tucker Hansen, who was a writer and a teacher and who died the following year. The theater, part of

Yue-Kong Pao Sir Yue-Kong Pao CBE JP (; 10 November 1918 — 23 September 1991), was the founder of Hong Kong's Worldwide Shipping Group, which at one point was the largest shipping company in the world. Anticipating the seriousness of the shipping ...

Hall of Visual and Performing Arts, seats about 300 people and opened its doors in 2006.

References

Works cited

External links