[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 96 (Wednesday, June 24, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6965-S6966]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Tribute to Dr. Bruce Grube

  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to an academic 
leader and a true public servant--Dr. Bruce Grube. A decade ago, Dr. 
Grube took the helm of Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, GA. 
At the end of this month, after 10 years on this job, he will leave 
Georgia Southern a bigger, better, and considerably richer university, 
both in terms of its endowment and in its academic achievements, than 
when he started.
  His leadership has been robust. During Dr. Grube's tenure as 
President of Georgia Southern the school's enrollment has risen almost 
23 percent. Nearly 18,000 students are proud to call Georgia Southern 
their academic home. And while freshman SAT scores were rising some 13 
percent on his watch, the university was being catapulted into national 
prominence. During Dr. Grube's time as president, Georgia Southern was 
designated a Carnegie doctoral/research university, was featured in the 
U.S. News and World Report's ``Best Colleges'' guide, and was named one 
of the Nation's ``Top 100 Best Values'' in education by Kiplinger.
  He also oversaw the creation of two new colleges specializing in 
information technology and public health, presided over a veritable 
building boom on campus, and brought Georgia Southern into the Internet 
age with distance learning courses.
  Of all his remarkable achievements, perhaps the most significant is 
that in the decade of Dr. Grube's presidency, the amount of 
scholarships funded through the Georgia Southern Foundation has 
doubled. In 1999, the foundation's scholarships totaled $644,000. In 
2007, the foundation was able to award $1.3 million to deserving 
scholars, many of whom may not have been able to start school or 
complete their degrees without that assistance. And Dr. Grube has led 
the way in doubling the university's endowment in 9 years' time.
  In addition, he has overseen Georgia Southern's rise in the world of 
collegiate athletics. In the past decade, the Eagles' volleyball, 
softball, baseball, and golf teams have reached their respective NCAA 
tournaments. Its football team went to the FCS national championships, 
and its cheerleading squad captured the national title.
  Georgia Southern and the entire university system will miss Dr. 
Grube's visionary leadership. Fortunately, this political scientist who 
got his start in the classroom won't be going far. After a little time 
off, he will return to Georgia Southern to teach in 2010.
  Dr. Grube, we certainly wish you and your family the best. Your 
professional dedication to better education has made Georgia Southern 
and Georgia a better place in which to live. I am proud to call you my 
good friend.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.
  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I am delighted to rise with my colleague 
from Georgia, Senator Chambliss, and pay tribute to my friend, Dr. 
Bruce Grube. A lot of times we stand on the floor and say ``my 
friend,'' when it is a passing statement. Well, it is not for me. I met 
Dr. Grube in 1989, when he was named the 11th president of Georgia 
Southern University, and I was with him as recently as commencement 
last year.
  He is a great leader in education in our State, and he will be 
missed. But he is both remembered and revered and there are three 
reasons I would like to talk about his distinguished career. No. 1, he 
did what is most important for college presidents to do--he raised the 
endowment of the university. In fact, he doubled the endowment of the 
university. And because of that, as Senator Chambliss said, he doubled 
the number of scholarships going out to deserving Georgians to come to 
Georgia Southern University. That is No. 1.

  No. 2, as a former chairman of a State board of education and one 
whose passion is education, I love what Dr. Grube did when he put in 
the First-Year Experience program at Georgia Southern University, a 
program designed to make the first-year experience a lasting experience 
so student retention improved at Georgia Southern and more kids who 
entered graduated. Since the inception of that program, retention at 
Georgia Southern University has gone from 66 percent of the freshman 
class to 81 percent of the freshman class--four out of five returning 
and getting their degree at Georgia Southern University.
  No. 3, among everything else that a president of a university does in 
terms of responsibility, it is so important that they outreach to the 
community. When you go to Bulloch County in Statesboro, GA, if you are 
at Snooky's Restaurant for breakfast, Dr. Grube is there. If you are on 
campus in the middle of the day, interacting with students under the 
shade of a Georgia pine tree, Dr. Grube is there. If there is a 
charitable or benefit program in Bulloch County, Dr. Grube is there. He 
is the face of Georgia Southern University, and he will be missed--but 
only for a year because after a brief sabbatical he comes back to teach 
political science at Georgia Southern University. He returns to his 
roots, established in his doctorate degree at the University of Texas 
in political science and carried on for years to come as a 
distinguished professor of political science at Georgia Southern 
University.
  I am proud to rise with my colleague, Senator Chambliss, to pay 
tribute to a great Georgian, a great educator, and my personal friend, 
Dr. Bruce Grube.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

[[Page S6966]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Kaufman). The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I am going to proceed on my leader time 
which I did not use earlier this morning.