Thomas Wallace

The Chemist

Thomas P. Wallace (1935- ) was the fourteenth president of Illinois State University. Born in 1935, Wallace became a respected chemist, earning his degrees in chemistry from SUNY - Potsdam, Syracuse, St. Lawrence, and his PhD in physical chemistry from Clarkson University in 1967. Wallace worked in the administrative side of academics after college, serving as dean of the College of Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology, dean of Science and Health Profession and vice president of academic affairs at Old Dominion University, and as chancellor at Indiana University - Purdue University, Fort Wayne. Wallace was chosen in 1988 to succeed Watkins as president of Illinois State University.

Finding Funding

Because of the recession, the university was hit hard by financial constraints. Early in his tenure, Wallace created a funding model that increased the budget but reduced enrollment. Wallace was also a proponent of fundraising, proposing that a new science building could be constructed using only private donor funds. However, the Board of Regents denied his request. State funding was eventually acquired and the new Science Laboratory Building was started. As construction for the new building got underway, Wallace also created the Illinois State University Center for Mathematics, Science, and Technology (CeMaST).

Resignation

In January 1995 the Bloomington, Illinois based newspaper, The Pantagraph, reported that Wallace had received undisclosed funds from the university foundation since 1993. Though a university committee determined in 1995 that there was no evidence of any violation of university policy, the faculty’s support of Wallace was diminished by this and other concerns, and a faculty vote of no confidence of 48% to 42% led to his resignation in July 1995.