Loran Donald Shields (born September 18, 1936) is an American academic. He was the president of

California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public research university in Fullerton, California, United States. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the California State ...

from 1971 to 1980, and of

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

from 1980 to 1986.

Early life and education

Loran Donald Shields was born on September 18, 1936, in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. He received a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in chemistry from the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

, and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from the

University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the Ca ...

in 1964.

Career

From 1963 to 1967, he taught in the chemistry department at California State University, Fullerton, at which time he became vice-president for administration. At the time of his appointment to the presidency of California State University, Fullerton in 1971, he was the youngest president of a public college or university in the United States. He served as the president of

from 1971 to 1980, until he took on the presidency of

. He resigned in 1986 because of health issues, at the time of the

Southern Methodist University football scandal The Southern Methodist University football scandal occurred in 1987 when the SMU Mustangs football program was investigated and penalized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Southern Methodist University (SMU), located in subu ...

. In 1974, President

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...

appointed him to the

National Science Board The National Science Board (NSB) of the United States establishes the policies of the National Science Foundation (NSF) within the framework of applicable national policies set forth by the President of the United States, president and the United ...

. He served on the

from 1974 to 1980. In 1989, he became the executive director of the

California Council on Science and Technology The California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) is an independent, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization designed to offer expert advice to the California state government and to recommend solutions to science and technology-related pol ...

, and remained in that position until 1995. He also served on the board of the

Research Corporation Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA) is an organization in the United States devoted to the advancement of science, funding research projects in the physical sciences. Since 1912, Research Corporation for Science Advancement has id ...

for Science Advancement from 1983 to 1986, and on the National Commission for

Cooperative Education Cooperative education (or co-operative education) is a structured method of combining classroom-based education with practical work experience. A cooperative education experience, commonly known as a "co-op" or work-study program, provides a ...

References

Living people 1936 births Academics from San Diego University of California, Riverside alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni California State University, Fullerton faculty Presidents of Southern Methodist University 21st-century American chemists {{Texas-bio-stub