Clifton Wharton, Jr. recently came out with his autobiography
By RJ Wolcott
Lansing State Journal
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Clifton Wharton Jr.'s career reads as a succession of pioneering achievements.
His tenure as president of Michigan State University from 1970 until 1978 marked the first time an African American held the office. Prior to arriving in East Lansing, Wharton was the first black student accepted into Johns Hopkins' School of Advanced International Studies and the first to receive a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago. Wharton went on to serve as CEO of TIAA-CREF, the first time an African American helmed a Fortune 500 company.
Long before leading major universities and corporations, Wharton recalled the expectations levied upon him as one of four black students at Harvard in the 1940s.
"The attitude toward us was since we were black (at a predominately white school), we must have been extremely bright," Wharton told the Lansing State Journal.
The 89-year-old recently came out with an autobiography, "Privilege and Prejudice: The Life of a Black Pioneer", published by MSU Press. He's returning to East Lansing next week to share his story and discuss the challenges officials in higher education face moving forward.
The book traces Wharton's path from 16-year-old Harvard undergraduate to serving as deputy secretary of state under President Bill Clinton.
Blanche Martin remembers setting out to bring Wharton to MSU in the late 1960s. Martin was the first African American elected to the MSU Board of Trustees in 1969. After hearing from friends and colleagues about Wharton, Martin traveled to New York to convince him to leave his job with the Agriculture Development Council to take the reins of a university facing an uncertain future.
"I told him about the problems we were having and how historical it would be for him to be first black president of a major university," Martin said. "I thought he could also do a lot to help us."
The creation of the College of Urban Development stands out to Martin as one of the most significant developments at MSU during Wharton's tenure. The idea, as he recalls it, involved reaching out to urban populations, particularly in Detroit, to boost minority student enrollment. The number of black students enrolled at MSU rose from about 4 percent to close to 9 percent in the years that followed, he said.
"I feel (Wharton's appointment as president) was instrumental in starting a lot of movements for minorities," Martin said. The college was disbanded in 1980 and reformed as the Urban Affairs Program.
Lee June, a professor in MSU's Department of Counseling Psychology and a former vice-president for student affairs and services, said he came to MSU in 1973 in part because of what Wharton's appointment said about the university.
"What attracted me to MSU was the fact that the university was committed to diversity," he said. "They had an African-American president, a good group of African American faculty and, when I interviewed, it was a very welcoming environment."
Following his time as MSU's president, Wharton became the chancellor of the 64-campus State University of New York system. He was named chairman of the Rockefeller Foundation in 1982 and became chairman and CEO of TIAA-CREF five years later.
Wharton said he is alarmed by growing disparity between rich and poor pursuing a college degree. He said that while 85 percent of children of parents in the top 25 percent of income end up attending college, less than 10% of children in the bottom quartile do.
Another issue he finds worrisome is a lack of proper higher education funding at the state and federal level. It signals a de-emphasis on higher education, Wharton said, something that needs to be reversed if the United States wants to sustain itself in a world economy.
"I maintain this is a moral and ethical question," he said. "Those who might not go to college yet possess the ability to do so do not invest in their human capital. We're denying the country and ourselves a significant pool of human capital to improve the U.S. economy."
While Wharton said he doesn't believe in a "magic wand" approach to success, but that chronicling his trials and tribulations could provide a template for those interested in how he was able to succeed. He maintains his successes in fields ranging from higher education to business, while unusual, are not out of reach for others.
"(Pioneering in multiple fields) shows that if you have the preparation and the opportunities, you are able to achieve," he said.
Clifton Wharton Jr. is scheduled to return to Michigan State University as part of the World View Lecture Series at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 2 inside the Wharton Center. Tickets are $23 or $15 for MSU students.
Published: Thu, Oct 29, 2015
