Washington University in St. Louis professor Wiliam Gass, the David May Distinguished University Professor Emeritus in the Humanities, read from his work to note his 90th birthday during "Reading: Passages of Time by William H. Gass" at Umrath Lounge on the Danforth Campus in St. Louis Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014. The event was sponsored by Washington University Libraries. Chancellor Emeritus William Danforth greets Gass before the reading. Photo by Sid Hastings / WUSTL Photos
Washington University
10.14.2016--Chancellor's Graduate Fellowship Program--25th Anniversary-- Panel discussion included: Moderated by Adrienne Davis, JD, Vice Provost and William M. Van Cleve Professor of Law, WashU Featuring: Imani Perry, PhD, the Hughes-Rogers professor of African American Studies at Princeton University and faculty associate in Princeton University's program in Law and Public Affairs and Gender and Sexuality Studies Rafia Zafar, PhD, Professor of English, African and African American, and American Culture Studies, WashU Keona Ervin (alum), PhD, Chancellor’s Fellow alumna, History, Assistant Professor, University of Missouri-Columbia Bertin Louis, Jr. (alum), PhD, Chancellor’s Fellow alumnus, Anthropology, Assistant Professor, University of Tennessee–Knoxville. Photo by Joe Angeles / WUSTL Photos
Washington University
Washington University
Washington University
Washington University
Washington University in St. Louis professor Wiliam Gass, the David May Distinguished University Professor Emeritus in the Humanities, read from his work to note his 90th birthday during "Reading: Passages of Time by William H. Gass" at Umrath Lounge on the Danforth Campus in St. Louis Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014. The event was sponsored by Washington University Libraries. Chancellor Emeritus William Danforth greets Gass before the reading. Photo by Sid Hastings / WUSTL Photos
Washington University
New subscriber benefit!
Copied to clipboard
Out of gifts for the month
Unfortunately you've used all of your gifts this month. Your counter will reset on the first day of next month.
This Friday, April 10, marks 100 years since the birth of William H. Danforth, the transformative visionary who led WashU from 1971 until 1995. During his tenure, WashU endowed 70 new faculty professorships; constructed dozens of new buildings; tripled the number of student scholarships and grew the endowment to one of the largest in the nation.
But his greatest accomplishment, Danforth claimed, was not the university’s ascension from commuter college to world-renowned research institution, but the 60,000 WashU students who graduated during his 24-year tenure.
When asked once by a young alumnus what he would like to be most remembered for, Danforth replied: “You — that’s what I would most like to be remembered for — the lives of the young people who have gone to Washington University during my time as chancellor.”
Here, the Record looks back at Danforth’s life and lasting impact on WashU. To read more about Danforth, visit the Remembering Bill Danforth website.
This content is sourced from
Washington University
. It reflects the author's views and has not been edited by our newsroom. It may have been generated using AI assistance.
Washington University in St. Louis professor Wiliam Gass, the David May Distinguished University Professor Emeritus in the Humanities, read from his work to note his 90th birthday during "Reading: Passages of Time by William H. Gass" at Umrath Lounge on the Danforth Campus in St. Louis Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014. The event was sponsored by Washington University Libraries. Chancellor Emeritus William Danforth greets Gass before the reading. Photo by Sid Hastings / WUSTL Photos
10.14.2016--Chancellor's Graduate Fellowship Program--25th Anniversary-- Panel discussion included: Moderated by Adrienne Davis, JD, Vice Provost and William M. Van Cleve Professor of Law, WashU Featuring: Imani Perry, PhD, the Hughes-Rogers professor of African American Studies at Princeton University and faculty associate in Princeton University's program in Law and Public Affairs and Gender and Sexuality Studies Rafia Zafar, PhD, Professor of English, African and African American, and American Culture Studies, WashU Keona Ervin (alum), PhD, Chancellor’s Fellow alumna, History, Assistant Professor, University of Missouri-Columbia Bertin Louis, Jr. (alum), PhD, Chancellor’s Fellow alumnus, Anthropology, Assistant Professor, University of Tennessee–Knoxville. Photo by Joe Angeles / WUSTL Photos
Washington University in St. Louis professor Wiliam Gass, the David May Distinguished University Professor Emeritus in the Humanities, read from his work to note his 90th birthday during "Reading: Passages of Time by William H. Gass" at Umrath Lounge on the Danforth Campus in St. Louis Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014. The event was sponsored by Washington University Libraries. Chancellor Emeritus William Danforth greets Gass before the reading. Photo by Sid Hastings / WUSTL Photos
