[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 51 (Monday, March 20, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S4206]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                   THE LEGACY OF STANLEY O. IKENBERRY

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, Stanley O. Ikenberry, a giant on the 
national stage of higher education policy, will retire this year after 
an exceptional tenure of 16 years as president of the University of 
Illinois.
  President Ikenberry announced his decision last year to give the 
university's board of trustees ample time to carefully select a 
successor, and the board now has chosen James J. Stukel, chancellor of 
the University of Illinois at Chicago, to become the 15th president of 
the university.
  Few posts are as stressful and delicate--and as public and 
influential--as the presidency of a major university. Stan and Judy 
Ikenberry have handled the pressures superbly, with grace and warmth 
and character.
  Stan Ikenberry has kept a firm hand on the tiller and a clear eye on 
the horizon in charting the university's progress during his 
stewardship. The Ikenberry era has been an intense period of growth and 
vigor that has seen improvements across the breadth of the university's 
activities and has solidified the campus' stature as a world-class 
university and center of research. During his tenure institutions such 
as the university's National Center for Supercomputing Applications 
have been established, and the university activities in Chicago have 
been strengthened with the chartering of the University of Illinois at 
Chicago.
  Under Stan Ikenberry's leadership, the University of Illinois last 
fall became one of the first campuses in the Nation to offer the new 
direct student loan program to its students. Stan Ikenberry and the 
University of Illinois are helping to prove the merits of this bold new 
program that is benefiting not only students but also taxpayers and 
schools.
  I well recall that when another major university in our State became 
indecisive about the chance to establish and offer a permanent home to 
an annual Paul Douglas Ethics In Government Award, Stan Ikenberry 
seized the opportunity, and the award program is now underway, based in 
Urbana-Champaign.
  Stan Ikenberry is a statesman who has enriched American higher 
education. Governors, lawmakers of both political parties in the State 
legislature and in Congress, and his colleagues in the higher education 
community all have relied heavily on Stan Ikenberry's insight, wisdom, 
and leadership skills. I have had the pleasure and the opportunity of 
working with Stan Ikenberry on a wide range of issues of importance to 
the university and to national education policy. Among many, many 
others who have worked in this field, I am grateful for Stan 
Ikenberry's wisdom, for his constancy, and for his leadership.
  President Ikenberry has much more to contribute to the Nation when he 
moves later this year into other pursuits. To his great credit, he 
plans on resuming college-level teaching in the field of higher 
education administration.
  We extend to Stan and Judy Ikenberry our deep appreciation and our 
very best wishes for their future endeavors.


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