In memoriam: President Emeritus James L. Jarrett
Western Washington University President Emeritus James Jarrett passed away on Friday, Sept. 11. He was 98.
Jarrett . From聽September 1959, when he took over for President William Wade Haggard, until Jarrett's聽retirement in聽August 1964, Western hired a number of faculty and built several buildings.
Jarrett hired 60 percent of the faculty who were in place when he left in 1964. And during his tenure, Western added聽Haggard Hall and the Student Co-operative Book Store (1960), the聽Highland Hall addition (1961), the聽Viking聽Commons (1961), Ridgeway聽Phase I (1962), Humanities Building (1963) and Ridgeway聽Phase II (1963).
Jarrett also re-organized and created new departments and programs:
- Honors Program established (1960)
- Social Studies department splits into separate departments: History, geography, economics-business-government and Sociology-anthropology
- Computer Center established (1962)
- Physics Department established (1962)
- Chemistry Department (1962)
- Bureau for Faculty Research (1963)
- Institute for Freshwater Studies (1963)
- Master鈥檚 Degree in the Arts and Sciences authorized (1963)
Student enrollment also grew tremendously during Jarrett's time, from聽2,954 in 1959-60 to 4,441 in 1963-64.
Jarrett received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Utah. His doctorate came from the University of Michigan. In addition to serving Western as president, Jarrett also was a professor of philosophy. He came to Western from the聽Great Books Foundation, where he was president.
A full obituary for President Jarrett will be posted as soon as it is available.
