Blake R. Van Leer

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Blake R. Van Leer
Georgia Institute of Technology
In office
1944–1956
Preceded byMarion L. Brittain
Succeeded byEdwin D. Harrison
Dean of Engineering University of Florida
In office
1932–1937
Dean of Engineering North Carolina State University
In office
1937–1941
Berkeley City Council
In office
1924–1932
Personal details
BornAugust 16, 1893
University president
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
Years of service1917–1953
RankColonel
UnitCorps of Engineers
Battles/warsWorld War I
World War II
AwardsCroix de Guerre

Blake Ragsdale Van Leer (August 16, 1893 – January 23, 1956) was an engineer and university professor who served as the fifth president of

Georgia Institute of Technology
from 1944 until his death in 1956.

Early life and education

Van Leer was born in

Ella Lillian Wall in Berkeley, California.[1]

Dean and officer

Van Leer was an

NC State University. During his tenure at both universities, numerous departments were established, and the first graduate engineering programs were created.[10][11] While at NC State he advocated for women and encouraged many to pursue engineering degrees. The first 5 women would enroll in NC State's engineering programs and become the first to graduate in 1941. One of his students was Katharine Stinson, co-founder of Society of Women Engineers and the FAA's first female engineer.[12][13] While here, he was also initiated as an honorary of the NCSU chapter of Theta Tau Professional Engineering Fraternity.[14] Around 1940, with the permission of Dean Harrelson, Van Leer gave half his time to the North Carolina Office for Defense orders. He resigned his post as dean in 1942 to take military leave.[15]
During the war, he served as a U.S. Army officer (attaining the rank of colonel), after which he returned to lead the school.[1] In 1945 Blake was appointed to the Board of the United States Naval Academy by President Harry S. Truman and helped expand its curriculum.[16]

Georgia Tech

After

statements on race.[22][23]

Georgia Institute of Technology

Van Leer might be best known for events centered around the 1956 Sugar Bowl. Known for giving frequent commencement speeches at the all-Black Morris Brown College, he stood up to Georgia governor Marvin Griffin's demand to bar Bobby Grier from participating in the 1956 Sugar Bowl game between Georgia Tech and Grier's University of Pittsburgh.[24] Leading up to the game, Griffin sent numerous telegrams to Tech's Board of Regents and the press saying Georgia should not engage in racially integrated events which had Blacks either as participants or in the stands. The governor also called on the "Tech boys" to be punished. Coach Bobby Dodd and students left the whole affair up to Van Leer to battle Griffin and the Board of Regents.[25] Van Leer was summoned by the Regents who commended Griffin for his stand on segregation.[26]

Van Leer was publicly quoted:

Either we’re going to the Sugar Bowl or you can find yourself another damn president of Georgia Tech.

Van Leer stuck to his statement, even receiving a standing ovation in the faculty senate, and the game went on as planned. Four years after his death in January 1956, an overwhelming majority of the 2,741 students present voted to endorse the integration of qualified applicants, regardless of race.

Electrical and Computer Engineering bears his name.[30][31]

Van Leer also founded Southern Polytechnic State University while president of Georgia Tech. The university merged into Kennesaw State University in 2015.[32]

Van Leer died of a heart attack on January 24, 1956, at the Atlanta Veterans Hospital.[33]

Personal life

Van Leer was a descendant of the Van Leer Family. His direct ancestor Samuel Van Leer was an American Revolutionary War officer. Another ancestor is a Founding Father General Anthony Wayne who is the namesake for Bruce Wayne.[34][35]

All of Van Leer's children would graduate as engineers. Van Leer's daughter

Maryly V. Peck also became a college president and women's rights advocate after earning her masters and Doctorate in engineering.[36] After earning a masters and multiple engineering degrees, his son Blake Wayne Van Leer also became a high-ranked military officer for the United States Navy.[37] His youngest son Samuel Van Leer graduated from Georgia Tech with two engineering degrees, later a masters and lead several private schools.[38] Sam was quoted stating his dad "could imagine a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech being anyone, he did not concern himself with race or gender, he was always progressive."[39]

Legacy

The building that houses Georgia Tech's school of

Electrical and Computer Engineering bears his name.[40] In 1964, the Blake R. Van Leer Scholarship was named after him, it's for out of state students attending Georgia Tech.[41] The Van Leer society at NC State University is named after him.[42] Artist Julian Hoke Harris sculpted a plaque to honor his stance against Governor Griffin.[43] In 2022 a film was announced about the 1956 Sugar Bowl and it featuring him as a main character.[44]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Biography of Van Leer Family". Georgia Tech Library. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Beyond the Chain Link Lay the Kingdom of the Mighty Mites". Hometownbyhandlebar.com. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Oral-History:Maryly Van Leer Peck". ETHW. 10 June 2016.
  4. ^ "Campusonalities". The Georgia Tech Alumnus (January–February): 9. 1951. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  5. ^ United States. Congress. House. Committee on Armed Services (1947). Full Committee Hearings on Universal Military Training. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 4333.
  6. ^ "Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 29, No. 03 1951 by Georgia Tech Alumni Association - Issuu". 2 July 2013.
  7. ^ Full Committee Hearings on Universal Military Training. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1947.
  8. ^ "History of the ECE Department: 1930–1939". Ece.ufl.edu. Archived from the original on 2010-06-03. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
  9. ^ "Who Was Mary Jane McLeod Bethune?". History Hit.
  10. ^ "Guide to the North Carolina State University College of Engineering Annual Reports, 1889-2005 UA 105.002 -- NCSU Special Collections". 25 April 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-04-25.
  11. ^ "Van Leer, Blake Ragsdale, 1893-". NC State University Libraries. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  12. ^ "Defense demands women engineers". thejohnsonian. 1942-03-20.
  13. ^ "Guide to the North Carolina State University College of Engineering Annual Reports". NCSU. Archived from the original on 2014-04-25. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
  14. ^ Georgia Tech's Auditorium Gymnasium (1944). "Col. Van Leer and Dr. Brittain Elected by Regent Board – Cont'd". The Georgia Tech Alumnus. March–April: 66.
  15. ^ "Guide to the North Carolina State University College of Engineering Annual Reports". Library.ncsu.edu. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
  16. ^ "Naval Academy visitor board" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
  17. ^ a b "Women: 30 Years at Tech". Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine. Vol. 58, no. 1. Georgia Tech Alumni Association. 1982. pp. 9–13.
  18. ^ a b c McMath, p.282
  19. ISBN 9781467129602
    .
  20. ^ "Rearview Revisited: Segregation and the Sugar Bowl". 14 November 2019.
  21. JSTOR 40581436
    . Retrieved 2020-11-29.
  22. ^ "UNESCO. (1950). Statement by experts on race problems. Paris, 20 July 1950. UNESCO/SS/1. UNESDOC database" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  23. ^ Summary Minutes of Meeting. United States National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. 1956.
  24. ^ "Film to Focus on Georgia Tech, fight against segregation at 1956 Sugar Bowl". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 5 July 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  25. ^ "Rearview Revisited: Segregation and the Sugar Bowl". 14 November 2019.
  26. ^ "A Half Century Ago, Georgia Tech Made a Racial Stand That Changed College Football Forever". Jbhe.com. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  27. ^ "Finding Aid for University of Georgia Integration Materials 1938–1965". University Archives. Archived from the original on May 21, 2013. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  28. ^ "Memphis World" (PDF). Dlync.rhodes.edu. 1950-05-23. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  29. ^ "Pay in Engineering Viewed as Lagging". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  30. ^ "Campus Map: Van Leer Building". Ece.gatech.edu. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
  31. ^ Leflouria, Erika. "Film to focus on Georgia Tech, fight against segregation at 1956 Sugar Bowl". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  32. ^ "Kennesaw State and Southern Polytechnic Will Consolidate | Communications | University System of Georgia". Usg.edu. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  33. ^ "Blake Van Leer, Educator, Dead; Georgia Tech President Was 62 – Barred Cancellation of Bowl Game Over Negro Hailed by Faculty Basketball Game Off". The New York Times. January 24, 1956.
  34. ^ "Maryly VanLeer Peck". Florida Women's Hall of Fame. Florida Commission on the Status of Women. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  35. ^ "Anthony Wayne: Wayne State's Namesake and Batman's Ancestor – Ethnic Layers of Detroit". s.wayne.edu.
  36. ^ "Mother's an Engineer". Life. 1962. pp. 102–106.
  37. ^ "Navy Civil Engineer, Volumes 11–12". 1970-04-14. Retrieved 2020-02-03.
  38. ^ Services, Asheville Mortuary. "Obituary for Samuel Wall Van Leer | Asheville Mortuary Services". Obituary for Samuel Wall Van Leer | Asheville Mortuary Services. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
  39. ISBN 9781443830676
    .
  40. ^ "Campus Map: Van Leer Building". Ece.gatech.edu. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
  41. ^ "Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 50, No. 03 1972 by Georgia Tech Alumni Association - Issuu". issuu.com. 8 October 2013.
  42. ^ "Engineering frontline [2005 : January]". digital.ncdcr.gov.
  43. ISBN 9781467107396
    .
  44. ^ LeFlouria, Erika. "Film to focus on Georgia Tech, fight against segregation at 1956 Sugar Bowl". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Works cited

External links
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