Thomas Henry Richardson

Fourth President of Montclair State College 1966-73

It is with deep regret that the campus community reports of the death on Monday, November 12, 2007 of Thomas Henry Richardson, the fourth President of Montclair State University. The University flags hangs at half-mast.

“Tom,” to his friends and colleagues, was a consummate example of the type of individual Tom Brokaw characterized in “The Greatest Generation.” Tom finished his baccalaureate degree at the State Teachers College in Oswego, NY in 1943 and entered the Army Air Corps where he served as a Lieutenant in the European Theater. Following his discharge he took a position as an instructor of Industrial Arts and Social Studies at the New York School for the Deaf and went back to school, eventually earning an Ed.D. at Teachers College of Columbia University in 1951. During the course of his career he served as a secondary school teacher and principal of elementary and secondary schools with stops along the way in Brooklyn, England, Germany, and Attleboro, MA. From 1951 to 1955 he served as the Superintendent of the Air Force Dependent Schools in England, Germany, France, and North Africa. In 1958 he succumbed to the lure of University life when he became Dean of the College at Jersey City State College.

He became Dean of the College at Montclair State Teachers College in 1964 and almost immediately became Acting President on November 1, 1964. Two years later, on November 1, 1966, he was named the fourth President of Montclair State, in which capacity he served until August 31, 1973. While his time in office was relatively short, they were years of momentous change for the College and for higher education in New Jersey. The changes included:

The Higher Education Act of 1966 created the Department of Higher Education and the position of Chancellor of Higher education, separating the then teachers colleges from the Department of Education and the public K-12 schools and leading, eventually, to the appointment of a local Board of Trustees at each of the campuses;

• The modification of the tenure statute to extend the probationary period from three to five years;
• The first Union contract between the State of New Jersey and the NJEA/Faculty Association;
• The subdivision of the academic program into six schools;
• A building program that included the Student Center, Richardson Hall, Partridge Hall, and Bohn Hall;
• The end of an era with the closing of College High; and
• The 1970 student strike in response to the Kent State tragedy.

These were, indeed, tumultuous times for the University and they demanded a leader who was wise and resolute, articulate and respected, calm and trusted—Tom was all of these and, more significantly, he was a gentleman. He was an effective spokesperson for Montclair State and a champion for higher education in New Jersey. Such was the regard in which he was held by the College community, that when he announced his resignation at a meeting in the Student Center ballrooms he was recognized with a ten minute standing ovation.