Thomas N. Bonner, the
15th president of the College and a distinguished scholar of the
medical profession and medical education, died Sept. 2 in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was 80.
Bonner was
appointed to the Union presidency in March 1974, coming here from three years
as president of the University of New Hampshire. During his first year
at the College, he announced several major gifts, such as a $250,000 Mellon
Faculty Development Grant and $230,000 for a new computer center; and appointed
two task forces, the President's Commission on the Status of Women and the
Campus Commission on Race Relations, both intended to improve the quality of
life on campus. But he became embroiled in controversy about the direction of
the men's ice hockey program, and by 1977 the campus was in turmoil. He
resigned in May 1978 to become president of Wayne State University in Detroit. He returned to
teaching in 1982 and soon reestablished his scholarly reputation. His seven
books in the field of American medicine were widely praised, and at his he
retirement from Wayne State in 1997 as the
Distinguished Professor of History and Higher Education, he became a visiting
scholar in history and biology at Arizona State University.
He is survived by his wife, Sylvia Firnhaber
Bonner of Scottsdale; a son, Philip Bonner,
of Columbus, Ohio; and a daughter, Diana
Bonner, of Glendale, Ariz.
Norman P. Auburn, acting president of
the College in 1978-79, died July 21. He was 98. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati, he served in a variety
of offices at Cincinnati and was named president
of the University of Akron in 1951. There, he
oversaw the creation of four colleges, the law school, and several doctoral
programs. After his retirement in 1971, he joined the Academy for Educational
Development and served as acting president of several colleges.