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Virgil Hunt, IU Kokomo’s first director, dies at 92
June 8, 2004 | |||||
KOKOMO, Ind.—The “founding father” of Indiana University Kokomo, Virgil Hunt, died Tuesday, June 8, 2004 in Indianapolis at the age of 92.
A memorial service for Virgil Hunt will be held June 26 at 10 a.m. at Meridian
Street United Methodist Church, 5500 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis. There will
be a memorial service later this year at IU Kokomo. Mr. Hunt served as the campus’s first director from 1945–56, then moved to IU Indianapolis to become dean. In 1966, he was named the first Registrar of the Indiana University Medical Center. He retired from that post in 1976, ending a 43-year career in higher education, and 33 years with Indiana University.
IU Kokomo presented Hunt an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree in 2003, honoring his work for and interest in the campus and the Hunt family’s continued support. “Mr. Hunt’s work in beginning what is now a campus of nearly 3,000 students has made it possible for thousands of individuals to receive a degree from IU Kokomo,” said Ruth J. Person, chancellor of IU Kokomo. “Virgil Hunt is our founding father, and was a close friend and advisor to me. We mourn his passing but celebrate his long and distinguished life dedicated to education.” Born November 26, 1911, in Oakland City, Ind., Mr. Hunt earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry from Indiana University in 1932 and 1933, respectively. He taught chemistry and science at colleges in Arizona, Kentucky and Danville, Ind., throughout that decade. It was at Central Normal College in Danville that Mr. Hunt also began working in administration, eventually serving as the youngest college president in the country from 1940–43. During World War II, Mr. Hunt was a preflight training instructor for a U.S. Air Force program at Butler University and a physics instructor for U.S. Army at IU Bloomington. He worked as a research physicist at a U.S. Navy laboratory at The Johns Hopkins University in Maryland from 1943–45. Responding to returning G.I.s’ desire for higher education, Indiana University adopted Kokomo Junior College as an IU extension center in 1945, and appointed Virgil Hunt as the center’s first executive secretary (later director). One of Mr. Hunt’s first acts was to enroll a group of Jewish students who had been denied admission to colleges in New York. Later as director, he recruited the campus’s first African American student and one of IU’s first African American faculty members. Under Mr. Hunt’s tutelage, the extension center grew from 188 students in 1945 to more than 700 students when he went to IU Indianapolis in 1956. Mr. Hunt worked hard to raise funds and acquire new buildings for the campus. “Single-handedly, he secured facilities, support, funding and most important, students,” said Robert R. Roales, chairperson of the Department of Natural, Informational and Mathematical Sciences at IU Kokomo. Ron Harper, President of the Community Foundation of Howard County, called Virgil Hunt “the educational entrepreneur who convinced more than one generation of north central Indiana residents that they could indeed receive an Indiana University education.” “Those students, their communities, and Indiana University are all winners because of Virgil’s efforts,” Harper said. In 2002, the Community Foundation presented Hunt its highest philanthropic honor, the David Foster Award for Lifetime Achievement. During his 11 years as director of the IU Kokomo campus, Mr. Hunt also taught chemistry courses there. In recognition of his teaching role, last fall, the campus named Virgil Hunt an honorary chairperson of an endowment initiative, aimed at providing perpetual funding for the maintenance and replacement of science education equipment. The Hunt family has funded the Virgil Hunt Service Award, which honors IU Kokomo faculty and staff members who take an active role in the university and community; the Virgil Hunt Fellowship in graduate education; and the Virgil and Elizabeth Hunt Scholars Program, which assists IU Kokomo students majoring in science or science education. In February 2002, the new science building at IU Kokomo was named Virgil and Elizabeth Hunt Hall, in recognition of a major gift from Hunt’s son and daughter-in-law, Bill and Nancy Hunt of Indianapolis. The gift remains the largest single donation ever received in the campus’ history. In addition to Bill and Nancy Hunt, Virgil Hunt is survived by his daughter Margo Biddinger of Sarasota, Florida, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. His wife of 63 years, Elizabeth Patterson Hunt, preceded him in death in 2001.
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