[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 17332-17333]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING THE SERVICE OF WILLIAM ``BRIT'' KIRWAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Costello of Pennsylvania). The Chair 
recognizes the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, first, I would say I was moved by the remarks 
of the gentleman who just spoke, and I know we all join him in his 
sentiments.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an individual who has 
made a remarkable impact on higher education in this country and in my 
State. He has done that for more than a half a century.

[[Page 17333]]

  William English ``Brit'' Kirwan retired at the end of the June as 
chancellor of the University System of Maryland. He served as 
chancellor for the past 12 years, and, during that time, he oversaw the 
period of growth, transformation, and achievement, which included the 
integration of on-line technology with course instruction and a 24 
percent increase in enrollment.
  Dr. Kirwan's lifetime of service to higher education, Mr. Speaker, 
began in his youth, which was spent on or around college campuses in 
Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky, and Durham, North Carolina.
  His father, Dr. A.D. Kirwan, was an accomplished educator and college 
administrator as well, having written and lectured in history at the 
University of Kentucky and later served as dean and its president.
  Brit Kirwan followed in his father's footsteps, luckily for all of 
us, attending the University of Kentucky, and later pursuing his 
master's and doctorate in mathematics from Rutgers University in New 
Jersey.
  Dr. Kirwan came to the University of Maryland College Park in 1964, a 
year after I graduated. He came as an assistant professor of math. 
After 24 years teaching in the department, and having been elevated to 
the department chair, and then provost, Dr. Kirwan was selected as the 
president of the university in 1988.
  He led the university system of Maryland's flagship campus for a 
decade, before leaving to become president of The Ohio State 
University.
  I think I speak for all Marylanders when I say we were very happy 
when he came back to Maryland. I was a member of the Board of Regents 
at the time, and I remember participating in a meeting when we were 
searching for a new chancellor.
  I asked my colleagues, ``If we could get Brit to come back, what 
would you think?'' All of them were extraordinarily enthusiastic.
  So I called his house in Ohio, and his wife, Patty, answered, and I 
asked her if she and Brit would be interested in returning. Patty 
immediately replied they would both like to be closer to their 
grandchildren. Luckily, they were living in Maryland.
  I took that as a good sign and, a short time later, Brit was back as 
chancellor of the university system. He managed a network that serves 
over 165,000 undergraduate and graduate students at 12 universities, 
two regional higher education centers, and one research center. It is 
the 12th largest university system in America. Under Dr. Kirwan's 
leadership, it has become a national model for excellence in higher 
education, research, and applied innovation.
  Dr. Kirwan has been called upon by both Democratic and Republican 
Presidents over the years to advise on issues relating to higher 
education access and performance. And certainly, he has been asked by 
United States Senators and Members of this House for his advice and 
counsel as well.
  He has been committed, throughout his years as an administrator, Mr. 
Speaker, to the principle that education ought to be accessible to all, 
and it ought to be seen as a tool to help people enrich their lives for 
learning, while advancing their careers. Among his major priorities 
have been making the university campuses more diverse and making 
attending college more affordable.
  Under his leadership, the university system built partnerships with 
the private sector and the State and Federal Government in order to 
further the cause of advanced research and innovation that has 
practical application for economic growth and national defense.
  Last year, Mr. Speaker, I was proud to be on hand to inaugurate a new 
test site in southern Maryland for unmanned aircraft systems, which 
will help in the development of new aerospace technologies and bring 
business development and skilled jobs to that region.
  Dr. Kirwan has always understood that we need to do more to ensure 
that everyone who wants to pursue higher education can do so and that 
our colleges and universities are helping to produce skilled innovators 
and workers. He knew that the university system was a partner in 
economic growth in our State and that university and academic 
institutions were partners in growing the U.S. economy.
  Mr. Speaker, I have had the pleasure of working closely with Dr. 
Kirwan for many years, and I have seen, firsthand, his passion for 
higher education, his respect for faculty and staff, and his love of 
students.
  Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in a ceremony to 
rededicate the University of Maryland mathematics building in honor of 
Dr. Brit Kirwan. That building, in which he taught mathematics, is now 
named in his honor for him.
  All of us, Mr. Speaker, have witnessed his determination to make the 
university system of Maryland a source of pride for our State and for 
our country, and he has done so.
  He has been a man who is deeply devoted to his wife, Patty, a 
wonderful woman, and their wonderful family and their community. Patty 
Kirwan is, herself, an extraordinary partner in the success that she 
and Brit have both achieved.
  Mr. Speaker, Chancellor Brit Kirwan is a man of extraordinary 
intellect, vision, understanding, compassion, character, and principle. 
He has brought all of these traits to bear in all of the important 
roles he performed throughout every endeavor in his life.
  On behalf of all of us who live in our State but, indeed, on behalf 
of all the citizens of the United States whom he has advantaged in one 
way or another, I thank Dr. Kirwan for his leadership on behalf of the 
higher education for our State and for our country.
  Dr. Kirwan has stepped down as chancellor, but, Mr. Speaker, I know 
he will continue to lend all of his great talents to making higher 
education ever more effective and his country ever more successful.
  Well done, Doctor.

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