{"id":901,"date":"2009-11-06T11:05:37","date_gmt":"2009-11-06T16:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/magazines\/vanderbilt-business\/?p=901"},"modified":"2015-07-07T20:19:06","modified_gmt":"2015-07-07T20:19:06","slug":"remembering-chancellor-alexander-heard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/remembering-chancellor-alexander-heard\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Chancellor Alexander Heard"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/magazine.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/legacy\/2009\/11\/HeardA.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-0\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-985\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/magazine.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/legacy\/2009\/11\/HeardA.jpg\" alt=\"HeardA\" width=\"300\" height=\"411\" \/><\/a>Alexander Heard, an adviser to three U.S. presidents who, as Vanderbilt\u2019s fifth Chancellor, guided the university smoothly through the stormy period of the 1960s and 1970s without the unrest and violence that afflicted many college campuses, died July 24 at his home after a long illness. He was 92.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor more than 40 years, Alex Heard was a powerful presence at Vanderbilt University,\u201d Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos says. \u201cThrough his intellect and calm demeanor, he raised Vanderbilt\u2019s stature on the national stage during his 20-year administration. And even after he stepped down as Chancellor he graciously made himself available to his successors for advice and guidance. I was gratefully one of the beneficiaries of his wisdom, and his loss is one I feel deeply.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Under Heard\u2019s direction, Vanderbilt grew and prospered, adding three schools to the seven it already contained, including the Owen School. \u201cChancellor Heard was a builder, someone who understood the value of all of the elements of a great university,\u201d says Dean Jim Bradford. \u201cUnder his leadership, the Owen Graduate School was founded and took its early steps toward becoming one of America\u2019s leading graduate schools of business. We strive to perpetuate and improve the legacy of his vision and wisdom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Heard had been serving as Dean of the Graduate School at the University of North Carolina when Vanderbilt tapped him for its top job in 1963, succeeding Harvie Branscomb. A giant in the field of political science, Heard was the recipient of 27 honorary degrees from various colleges and universities over the years and published numerous books on the presidential election process.<\/p>\n<p>Heard is survived by his wife, Jean Keller Heard, and four children: Stephen, a Nashville attorney; Christopher, an acknowledgements coordinator for Vanderbilt\u2019s development office; Frank, BA\u201975, MBA\u201980, a Florida businessman; and Cornelia Heard, Valere Blair Potter Professor of Violin at Vanderbilt\u2019s Blair School of Music; and two grandchildren: Alexander Michael Heard of Boca Raton, Fla., and George Alexander Meyer of Nashville.<\/p>\n<p>A memorial service was held on July 29 in Benton Chapel on Vanderbilt\u2019s campus. Donations may be made to the Alexander Heard Memorial Fund at Vanderbilt. By arrangement with the university, Heard\u2019s ashes were interred at Benton Chapel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alexander Heard, an adviser to three U.S. presidents who, as Vanderbilt\u2019s fifth Chancellor, guided the university smoothly through the stormy period of the 1960s and 1970s without the unrest and violence that afflicted many college campuses, died July 24 at his home after a long illness. He was 92. \u201cFor more than 40 years, Alex [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66,8],"tags":[30],"class_list":["post-901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-departments","category-inside-owen","tag-fall2009"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=901"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8927,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901\/revisions\/8927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}