Chancellor Emeritus Richard L. Wallace
Biography
Following 16 months as Interim Chancellor, on November 14, 1997, Richard L. Wallace was appointed chancellor of the University of Missouri-Columbia, his campus home since 1966. His leadership of MU was notable for strategic planning; an open budget process; the fastest growth rate in federal research support in the Association of American Universities; a focus on the life sciences; increases in the size, academic accomplishment and diversity of entering classes; significant growth in private fund-raising; and partnerships with other institutions.
Chancellor Wallace began his collegiate career as a student at Northwestern University where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1958. He went on to earn a doctorate in economics from Vanderbilt University in 1965. After working as an instructor and assistant professor of economics at Florida State University from 1961-1966, Dr. Wallace was hired as an assistant professor of economics and community health and medical practice at MU. He was subsequently promoted to associate professor and then professor, with research and teaching interests related primarily to public utility regulation and health economics. From 1975-1997, he also chaired the planning committee for a national symposium on public utility regulation.
While climbing the academic ladder at MU, Dr. Wallace also proved himself an able administrator. From 1967-1970, he served as chair of the Department of Economics. Two years later, he became director of the School of Business and Public Administration Research Center, serving concurrently as the School's assistant dean for research.
From 1974-1977, Dr. Wallace was associate dean of the Graduate School with responsibilities that included academic computing, graduate fellowship programs and the school's budget. He served as interim dean of the Graduate School for 18 months during 1978-79 before returning to the role of associate dean, when he assumed responsibility for the Office of Research until 1982.
Dr. Wallace's growing reputation for leadership next led to an appointment as interim dean of the College of Arts and Science from 1982-1983, during which time he developed a computer-based information system and an academic plan for the college. In 1983 he became associate provost, a position he held for two years in which he was a key player in University planning and program review. During 1983-84, he supported a system level planning initiative and also served for six months in 1984 as Acting Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University System.
From 1985 to 1989, Dr. Wallace served as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and then as Vice President for Academic Affairs from 1989 to 1996. In that role, he was responsible for UM policies on academic programs, personnel, planning, and the promotion of quality in research and scholarship. He was named interim chancellor of the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1996 and chancellor in 1997.
During his years as chancellor, Dr. Wallace was committed to a vision of enhancing MU's standing among the nation's leading land-grant, research universities. But one of his proudest accomplishments during this time is the adoption of a set of campus values that have become a centerpiece of the University community. Now enshrined on Francis Quadrangle, those values are respect, responsibility, discovery and excellence. Other significant accomplishments in which Chancellor Wallace takes great pride — and for which he gives the faculty full credit — are MU's receipt of the nationally prestigious Hesburgh Award for excellence in general education and recognition by the National Science Foundation for involving undergraduates in research.
Chancellor Wallace has served on many University, community and national boards and councils, including MU's representative to the Association of American Universities, chairman of the Missouri Council on Public Higher Education, founding member of the Board of Directors of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, member of the board of directors of the Big 12 Conference, and member of the NCAA Division-I Committee on Athletic Certification. He currently serves on the board of directors for the First National Bank and Trust Company.
The recipient of numerous honors, Dr. Wallace has received the Faculty Service Award from the National Continuing Education Association and the J. Rhoads Foster Award for outstanding contributions to the public utility regulatory process. He has been honored as Communicator of the Year by the Mid-Missouri Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America and awarded an honorary doctor of philosophy degree by Chonnam National University in Korea. In 1998, he was inducted into Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism Hall of Achievement.
Chancellor Wallace and Patricia, his wife of 49 years, are the parents of two Mizzou graduates, Sandra Wallace and Lisa Evans, and the grandparents of two future Tigers, Bradley and Brittany Evans.