[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 82 (Tuesday, June 11, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E840-E841]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 REMEMBERING DR. ALFRED FRANCIS HURLEY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MICHAEL C. BURGESS

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 11, 2013

  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Dr. 
Alfred Francis Hurley. After a battle with Alzheimer's disease, Dr. 
Hurley passed away last week at the age of 84. He served as the 14th 
President of the University of North Texas, the longest serving 
president, and the university's first chancellor.
  The oldest of four, Dr. Hurley was born in Brooklyn in 1928 to Irish 
immigrants Patrick and Margaret Hurley. Dr. Hurley graduated summa cum 
laude in 1950 from St. John's University. He received both his master's 
degree and Ph.D. in history at Princeton University while serving in 
the Air Force, preparing to teach at the Air Force Academy.
  Before the outbreak of Korean War in 1950, Dr. Hurley enlisted as an 
airman, and in 1980, retired as a Brigadier General. From 1966 to 1980, 
he was permanent professor and head of the Department of History at the 
U.S. Air Force Academy, building a nationally regarded history 
department. He was a member of the Academy's executive board and 
chairman of the Humanities Division, and in 1968, he served a tour of 
duty in Vietnam, where he flew missions and worked on the EC-47 
program, which he conceived and organized, produced 100 histories of 
the air war in Vietnam. Dr. Hurley initiated and hosted eight Military 
History Symposia that brought together leading scholars from the U.S. 
and Europe. Dr. Hurley's military awards include the Air Force 
Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, Legion of Merit with oak leaf 
cluster, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Device, and Vietnam 
Service Medal with two bronze stars.
  Dr. Hurley's tenure at UNT, from 1982 to 2002, was a period of 
extensive growth for the UNT system. Enrollment at the university 
increased from 19,000 to 27,000 students, the university's endowment 
grew from $850,000 to $45 million, and $200 million was raised. Many of 
UNT's programs were nationally recognized, including the UNT Office of 
Postgraduate Fellowships, UNT's Texas Academy of Mathematics and 
Science, UNT Health Science Center, and the UNT System Center at 
Dallas, including UNT at Dallas, the first public university within 
Dallas.
  The first resident of Denton to chair the North Texas Commission and 
to join the Dallas Citizens Council, Dr. Hurley also served as co-chair 
of the Coalition of Urban Metropolitan Universities and on its 
executive committee; president of Texas Philosophical Society, director 
of Fort Worth and Denton Chambers of

[[Page E841]]

Commerce, vice chairman of Denton County Business Leaders Council, 
president of Denton County United Way, chairman of the Texas Council of 
Public University Presidents and Chancellors, and director of the 
Association of Texas Colleges and Universities. In 1986, Dr. Hurley 
received the Otis Fowler Award from the Denton Chamber of Commerce.
  After his retirement, Dr. Hurley became a history professor at UNT 
from 2003 to 2008. He and his wife Johanna continued to help organize 
UNT's annual Military History seminar, which enabled Texan community 
leaders to discuss with a leading scholar and a current or retired 
military officer who had served in combat. At its 23rd anniversary in 
2006, the seminar was endowed by many of its participants and named the 
Alfred and Johanna Hurley Military History Seminar.
  I am proud to honor the life of Dr. Hurley for his years of service 
to the University of North Texas community. I would like to extend my 
sincerest condolences to Dr. Hurley's family and friends.

                          ____________________