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OCR for page 119
H ENRY TOWNLEY H EALD
19()4-1975
BY l()H N A. HRONES
H ENRY TOWNLEY HEALD, retired president of the Ford Founda-
ti`'n, died November 23, 1975, in Winter Park, Florida. For a
decade, as President of the Ford Foundation, he played a key
leadership role in the development of engineering and science in
the United States. During this period (1956-66), university educa-
tion and research in engineering and science experienced its
greatest growth in scope and quality.
Dr. Heald was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, on November 8, 1904.
His father, Frederick DeForest Heald, was a distinguished plant
pathologist. Henry Heald received a Bachelor of Science degree in
1923 from Washington State College. Two years later he was
awarded a Master's degree in civil engineering at the University of
Illinois.
After two years practice as an engineer in Chicago, Dr. Heald
began his distinguished career at the Illinois Institute of Technol-
ogy, at that time the Armour Institute of Technology. He succes-
sively held the positions of Assistant Professor (1927-31), Associate
Professor ~ 1931-34), Dean of Freshman ~ 1933-34), Professor of
Civil Engineering and Dean of Engineering (193~38), and Presi-
dent (1938-521.
The early years of Dr. Heald's presidency were critical ones.
Without his perseverance in building a strong board of directors
and his early success in fund-raising, the institution might well have
closed. He led a successful effort to build the Armour Research
119
OCR for page 120
Foundation, which drew the interest of Midwest industry. A spec-
tacular growth in research was paralleled by the development of a
strong graduate program.
Dr. Heald was instrumental in bringing about the consolidation
of Armour Institute of Technology and Lewis Institute to form the
Illinois Institute of Technology in 1940. His presidency of the
combined institutions was a successful struggle to achieve both
quality and financial stability.
In 1952 Dr. Heald became Chancellor of New York University
(NYU), one of the largest private universities in the United States.
There, his administrative ability and the confidence that funding
sources had in his leadership enabled him to strengthen NYU and to
enable the University to cope effectively with its manifold problems
derived from its urban location. In addition, he was Chairman of
the New York State Commission on Educational Finances, which
issued a comprehensive report, "Financing Public Education in
New York State, 1956." He also chaired the Committee on Higher
Education in the State of New York which issued a report, "Meet-
ing the Increasing Demand for Higher Education in New York,
1960." Recommendations included in these reports were important
building blocks in the reshaping of higher education in the State of
New York. His tenure at NYU was constructive and successful, and
he won the respect of all his contemporaries in urban higher
education.
In 1956 Dr. Heald became President of the Ford Foundation, a
position in which he served with vision and energy. During the
period of his presidency (195~66), the Ford Foundation commit-
ted approximately $1.75 billion for philanthropic purposes. Under
his leadership, the Foundation established programs in the arts, the
physical sciences and engineering, and in demographics; expanded
overseas programs to Africa, Latin America, Japan, and Australia;
inaugurated major school and community programs in low-income
city neighborhoods; stimulated the growth of noncommercial tele-
vision; created the Educational Facilities Laboratories; and initiated
a special and extremely valuable program of unrestricted grants to
support the long-range development of private universities and
colleges. The Foundation, under his able leadership, demon-
strated, often in a brilliant and imaginative way, how much a great
120
OCR for page 121
philanthropic organization can do to develop and support the
culture and welfare of an entire nation and of others beyond its
borders.
Dr. Heald was a Charter Member of the Board of Trustees of the
Asian Institute of Technology (Bangkok). He played a leading role
in the founding of this private international graduate school of
engineering, which attracts talented men and women from more
than twenty countries.
In 1966 Dr. Heald founded the consulting firm of Heald, Hob-
son and Associates, which provided assistance to educational, re-
search, and philanthropic organizations. He directed the study that
recommended the federation of Case Institute of Technology and
Western Reserve University. In 1967 those two institutions united
to become Case Western Reserve University.
Dr. Heald was a member of numerous professional and honor-
ary societies and served terms as President of the American Society
of Engineering Education, President of the Western Society of
Engineers, President of the Association of Urban Universities, and
Chairman of the American Council on Education. He was the
recipient of twenty-one honorary degrees. Other awards included
the Navy Award for Distinguished Civilian Service, the Washington
Award of the Western Society of Engineers, the Gold Medal of the
National Institute of Social Sciences, and the Hoover Medal. He
was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in
1965.
Dr. Heald's business affiliations included directorships of Equi-
table Life Assurance Society, American Telephone and Telegraph
Company, United States Steel Corporation and Lever Brothers
Company.
Henry Heald commanded the respect of all who worked with
him. He was quiet yet determined in manner. He was a good
listener. His thoughtful forward-looking leadership earned the
respect of his colleagues, whose support of his programs made
possible the enormous influence he had on higher education. This
influence continues through the institutions his wise counsel
helped shape. We who knew him are grateful to have had the
opportunity to work with him.
121
OCR for page 122
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