Curtis William Tarr (September 18, 1924 – June 21, 2013) was an American academic best known for his role in the reform of the

Selective Service System The Selective Service System (SSS) is an independent agency of the United States government that maintains information on U.S. citizens and other U.S. residents potentially subject to military conscription (i.e., the draft) and carries out con ...

—in particular, of the draft lottery, which had been criticized for being insufficiently random. Tarr also served as the seventh dean of the S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to ...

, and as the twelfth president of

Lawrence University Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Appleton, Wisconsin. Founded in 1847, its first classes were held on November 12, 1849. Lawrence was the second college in the U.S. to be founded as a coeducati ...

in Appleton, Wisconsin. Tarr earned his B.A. from

Leland Stanford Jr. University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

, his M.B.A. from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

and returned to Stanford to earn his Ph.D. in American history. Tarr served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and began his academic career as a lecturer and assistant dean of humanities at Stanford. In 1958, he ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate, California 2nd District seat in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

. Between 1963 and 1969, he was President of

. He negotiated Lawrence's merger with

Milwaukee-Downer College Milwaukee-Downer College was a women's college in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in operation from 1895 to 1964. History Milwaukee-Downer College was established in 1895 with the merger of two institutions: Milwaukee College and Downer College of Fox ...

, increasing the endowment from $7,000,000 to $20,000,000. Toward the end of his Lawrence presidential term, he negotiated Vietnam-era tensions, creating the Lawrence University Community Council in 1968. Tarr returned to government service in 1969, as an Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. He was subsequently promoted to director of the

, replacing the controversial

Lewis Hershey Lewis Blaine Hershey (September 12, 1893May 20, 1977) was a United States Army general who served as the second Director of the Selective Service System, the means by which the United States administers its military conscription. Early life He ...

; historian David L. Schalk has referred to Tarr in this role as an "inoffensive bureaucrat". He then served as Under Secretary of State for Security Assistance and Acting Deputy Under Secretary of State for Management. After his second phase of government service, Tarr was vice president for management development at

Deere & Company Deere & Company, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, transmissions, gearboxes) used in heavy equipment, an ...

, Moline, Illinois, a farm equipment manufacturer, until 1984, when he was selected to be Dean of the Johnson School, succeeding David A. Thomas.Deere Official at Cornell, N.Y. Times (Feb. 21, 1984)
/ref> Tarr was the author of ''Private Soldier: Life in the Army from 1943–1946'' and of numerous articles in professional journals, including ''Air University Review''. The Curtis Tarr Scholarship of the Johnson School, a two-year merit-based award, is named in his honor. He died in 2013.
''The New York Times'', June 29, 2013

References

Links

Official Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarr, Curtis W. Presidents of Lawrence University Cornell University faculty 1924 births 2013 deaths United States Under Secretaries of State Stanford University alumni Harvard Business School alumni United States Army personnel of World War II California Republicans Writers from California Writers from Wisconsin Deaths from pneumonia in California Nixon administration personnel