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xiii Acknowledgments The text that follows is largely an edited version of the transcript of videotapes recorded in May and June 2011. It is a conversation between two old friends.Three voices are heard, principally mine and that of Sam Crowl, Shakespeare scholar, professor of English literature, former chair of the Faculty Senate and dean of University College, and now Trustee Professor emeritus. Then in a final session the person commenting and asking thought-provoking questions is Doug McCabe, curator of manuscripts in Ohio University Libraries ’ Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections. Sam is the interlocutor, and without Sam’s insistence none of this would have been recorded. Only Sam could have elicited these responses or opened my inner thoughts. He shared many of the events and helped make change possible. Our friendship, which stretches back more than thirty-five years, is a relationship of shared respect, trust, and affection. I am deeply indebted to a whole host of named and unnamed trustees, faculty, staff, and alumni who led the way forward and made these years good for me and my family and, I believe, for Ohio University. The contributions of three provosts, Neil Bucklew, Jim Bruning, and, close to the end of my years as president, Dave Stewart, were critical to all that was good in those years. Scott Seaman, dean of University Libraries, was supportive right from the start of this project, and without his help and the dedicated work of Library staff, in particular Kate Mason, coordinator of communications and assistant to the dean, who managed the project and was the primary copyeditor , this manuscript would never have been completed. She was ably assisted by Rob Dakin, records management associate, and by graduate assistants Lena Chapin and Krithika Rajaraman. Bill Kimok, university archivist and records manager, searched the archives and identified photographs from the period. He was ably assisted by Janet Carleton, digital initiatives coordinator, and xiv Acknowledgments graduate assistants Kate Munsch and Lauren Pond in the digital image processing . I am grateful to them all for their assistance. Three introductions, each written from a different perspective, contribute much to the conversations: Jim Bruning from the perspective of an active agent for change and progress; Betty Hollow, who knows the history of Ohio University from her search of its rich archives and has captured much of that history in her bicentennial celebration, Ohio University, 1804–2004:The Spirit of a Singular Place; and Sam Crowl, who kept the conversation moving. I am grateful to all three for taking time to write the introductions, and for what they add to the conversation. Doug McCabe patiently followed and produced the whole series of conversations , presiding behind the camera for all but the last session, when he skillfully took over for Sam Crowl. Finally, I want to acknowledge, with love and gratitude, Claire, who made all this possible. I do so by dedicating this book to her using the honorary degree citation, endorsed by a committee of faculty and students, adopted by the University trustees, signed by Charlotte Eufinger, then chair of the board of trustees, and read at my last commencement, June 11, 1994. It is the only time I remember kissing an honorary degree recipient. ...

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