September 6, 2002 UNT Inhouse publication: Regents rename Administration Building for Hurleys; approve emeritus appointments

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Regents rename Administration Building for Hurleys; approve emeritus appointments

In August, at Alfred F. Hurley's final UNT System Board of Regents meeting as system chancellor, the regents honored him and his wife, Johanna, by renaming the university Administration Building the Alfred F. and Johanna H. Hurley Administration Building.

Hurley was appointed the university's 12th president and second chancellor in 1982 and became the UNT System's first full-time chancellor in October 2000. He held the university's presidency longer than any other chief executive in UNT's history. He announced plans in January to leave the chancellorship at the end of the 2001-02 academic year.

When he stepped down Aug. 31, Hurley, 73, had served as the UNT System's chief executive officer for more than 20 years.

He joined the university as vice president for administrative affairs on Sept. 1, 1980. Less than 17 months after his arrival, in February 1982, he became UNT's 12th president and the second chancellor of the informal UNT System.

Many credit Hurley as a major factor in the rise of the university and the system to educational leadership in the North Texas region, but Hurley always shared the credit for the amazing progress during his presidency and chancellorship with his wife.

"It is fitting that the Administration Building, which stands at the center of the UNT campus and since 1956 has symbolized the seat of administrative leadership, should be named for Dr. and Mrs. Hurley," says UNT Board of Regents Chair Bobby Ray. "The building overlooks a campus benefiting from nearly $200 million raised in two capital campaigns and transformed by more than $260 million in construction and renovation to expand and update its facilities during Dr. Hurley's tenure. Accordingly, renaming the building the Alfred F. and Johanna H. Hurley Administration Building will be a lasting symbol of the Hurleys' accomplishments on behalf of the university and the system."

In other action, the regents named Hurley Chancellor Emeritus of the UNT System and President Emeritus of the university.

In 1981, the regents approved his appointment as professor of history with tenure.

A nationally recognized military historian, Hurley is the author of the first scholarly biography of Gen. "Billy" Mitchell and a contributor to other works on the history of air power.

During his 30-year career in the U.S. Air Force, he headed the history department at the Air Force Academy from 1966 to 1980 and served as chair of its humanities division.

He also led the development of the Air Force Academy Symposia in Military History; won a Guggenheim Fellowship in the Humanities in 1971-72; held an appointment as a Fellow in the Eisenhower Institute of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., in 1976-77; and often lectured at the National Army and Navy War Colleges as well as various Air Force service schools between 1966 and 1980.

TO VIEW PHOTOS FROM SEVERAL FAREWELL EVENTS
HONORING THE HURLEYS, CLICK HERE.