Campus Mate!)
John Slaughter Takes the Helm at Occidental
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fter leading the nation's college presidents through the fight over Proposition 48 and serving as Chancellour of the University of Maryland at the time Len Bias died, no challenge can be too great for John Slaughter. His distinguished career as a scientist and educator set the stage for his inauguration as President of Occidental College in Los Angeles, California, on April 27, 1989. John Brooks Slaughter
A native of Topeka, Kansas where he spent his formative years, Brother John Brooks Slaughter began his collegiate training at Washburn University as a Whiting Scholar. He completed his baccalaureate in Electrical Engineering at Kansas State University in 1956. Upon graduation, he joined General Dynamics Astronautics in San Diego as an electrical engineer. In I960, Dr. Slaughter began a 15year association with the Naval Electronics Laboratory Center in San Diego, where he became Head of the Information Systems Technology Department. During those years he also completed an M.S. in Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Ph.D. in Engineering Science at the University of California, San Diego. Although he began his career as an electronics engineer in industry and later in government, Dr. Slaughter has consistently been a member of the academic community. From 1961 to 1975, he held various appointments as an adjunct or part-time instructor in engineering at colleges and universities in the San Diego area. In 1975 he joined the Applied Physics Laboratory of the University of Washington as its Director and also as Professor of Electrical E n g i n e e r i n g . In 1977, he was The Sphinx/Winter 1989
appointed by former President Jimmy Carter as Assistant Director of Astronomical, Atmospheric, Earth and Ocean Sciences at the National Science Foundation. He remained in that position for two years, becoming Academic Vice President and Provost at Washington State University in 1979. He then returned to the National Science Foundation, again at the request of President Carter, to serve as its Director from 1980 to 1982, during the first years of the Reagan presidency. He became Chancellor of the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1982. Six years later, in August, 1988, he began his service as the 11th President of Occidental College, succeeding Dr. Richard C. Gilman. Dr. Slaughter's research specialty is in the field of digital control systems theory and applications, and his a c c o m p l i s h m e n t s t h e r e i n have earned him broad recognition. He was elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering in 1982 and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Tau Beta Pi engineering honorary society. He is a coeditor of the International Journal on Computers and Electrical Engineering. He is a Fellow of both the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
In addition to his distinguished career as scientist and educator, Brother Slaughter has served the public in manifold ways. As President of the Board of Directors of the San Diego Urban League, he was concerned with providing equal opportunities in education, employment, housing and social services. He has served on the Board of Directors of the San Diego Transit Corporation and was elected Vice-Chairman of the Board in 1972. From 1984 to 1985, he served as Chair of the Governor's Task Force on Teen Pregnancy for the State of Maryland. From 1985 to 1986, he chaired the Prince George's County, Maryland Public Schools Community Advisory Council on Magnet and Compensatory Education. Throughout his career, by both personal example and professional involvement, Dr. Slaughter has been active in efforts to involve minorities in science and engineering. In 1983, he served as a member of the National Science Board Commission on Pre-College Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology. From 1976 to 1980, he chaired the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Minority Committee. He has also served as a member of the National Academy of Engineering Committee on Minorities in Engineering. In 1987, U.S. Black Engineer magazine named him as its first "Black Engineer of the Year." He is a member of Beta Psi Lambda Chapter, and a life member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Dr. Slaughter has chaired the Presidents' Commission of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and has served on the executive committee of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Avery International Corporation, IBM, Monsanto Company and Union Bank. He is married to Dr. Ida Bernice Slaughter, herself an educator, and they have two children, John Brooks Slaughter II, a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, and Jacqueline Michelle, a graduate of Hampton University. Page 23