Another of the University’s shining lights of research and education went out recently when President Emeritus Paul Olum, 82, died Jan. 19 of Lewy body disease in Natick, Mass.
His death comes at a time when the University is also honoring the memory of Professor Aaron Novick, 81, who died in December. Novick was credited with making several breakthroughs in biological research during his time at the University.
While remembered for his work as a professor of mathematics, Olum’s chief accomplishments during his presidency from 1981 to 1989 were his unflinching defense of the University’s educational mission in the face of a severe state-wide recession and countless education budget cuts.
“There are lots of people who thought like he did, but few had the courage to say it,” said Olum’s son Ken Olum, 39, a physicist who works with Tufts University.
Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Beall Concert Hall, and a campus memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday in the Paul Olum Atrium in Willamette Hall.
As president, Olum was able to guide the University through a massive expansion project that brought 20 new research institutes and academic programs. He also oversaw the construction of the $45.6 million science complex and the $27 million expansion and remodeling of the Knight Library.
He was able to accomplish this despite a crippling recession in Oregon during the early 1980s, which brought serious budget cuts to the Oregon University System. Olum’s devotion to both students and faculty kept the University running strong during the recession, but also put him out of favor with the State Board of Higher Education. The board eventually decided it would not renew Olum’s contract in 1987, effectively forcing him to retire in 1989. The move was met with protests from both faculty and students who were highly supportive of their president.
Ken Olum said he respected his father for being able to hold on to his beliefs even when they went against those of the State Board of Education. He said that Olum was a wonderful father who viewed his family just as important as his work at the University.
“He had a love of intellectual pursuits and justice, both at home and at work,” he said.
Both Ken Olum and his sister, Joyce Galaski, 51, a rabbi in Amherst, Mass., recounted the time Olum joined an anti-apartheid protest on the steps of Johnson Hall. Galaski said her father viewed his job as a means to bring about positive change at the University, and also to give students and faculty more say in higher education.
“He saw part of his job as a way to support faculty,” she said. “He wanted to empower faculty, and I think he wanted to empower students.”
Vice President for Administration Dan Williams, whom Olum hired in 1973, said Olum was a truly unique person.
“He really was an extraordinary man,” he said. “He had a humanness about him I had never encountered before and never have since.”
Williams said Olum lent inspiration and confidence to faculty members who knew that he was truly working on their behalf.
“It became very clear to me that he was a faculty member who just happened to be president,” he said.