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Peter Stanley Papers
PC.0023
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Title: Peter Stanley Papers
Dates: 1972-2003
Collection number: PC.0023
Creator:
Stanley, Peter W.
Extent:
4.8 Linear Feet
(3 record cartons, 2 document boxes, 1 over-sized flat storage
box)
Repository:
Claremont Colleges. Library. Special Collections, The Claremont
Colleges Library, Claremont, CA 91711.
Abstract: This collection contains correspondence
from Pomona College's eighth president, Peter Stanley, as well as materials relating to his
presidential inauguration and the Byron Dick Seaver Theatre Complex construction
project.
Physical Location: Please consult
repository.
Language of Material: Languages represented in
collection: English
Administrative Information
Collection open for research.
All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to
the Archives.
[Identification of item], Peter Stanley Papers (PC-0023). Pomona College Archives,
Special Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, Claremont, California.
Additions to the collection are not anticipated.
Biography / Administrative History
Peter William Stanley was Pomona College's eighth president serving from 1991 to 2003.
Stanley was born in 1940 and had a long and varied career prior to joining Pomona College.
An Asian Studies scholar, Stanley earned his B.A. and graduate degrees from Harvard
University and was a Frank Knox Memorial Fellow at Jesus College, Cambridge University.
Following his educational career Stanley taught American and American-East Asian History
at the University of Illinois, Chicago from 1970 to 1972 before joining the faculty at
Harvard as an assistant professor from 1972 to 1978. In 1978, Stanley moved to Carleton
College where he was a lecturer in history for a year before serving as dean from 1979 to
1984. In 1984, Stanley joined the Ford Foundation as a program officer in charge of
education and culture before becoming the director of the Foundation's education and
culture program, a position he held until 1991.
Inaugurated as Pomona College President in 1991, Stanley was, from the outset, sensitive
to the role of the physical campus, an awareness that reflected, in part, the concern for
heritage and regional identity fundamental to the ongoing nationwide historic preservation
movement. In his inaugural address, Stanley noted the need for a campus center and pledged
to see this goal realized. Dedicated in 1999, the Smith Campus Center was the most
ambitious of the three important new building projects of Stanley's tenure (the others
being the Hahn and Andrew buildings) and one whose impact on the daily life of the Pomona
community is particularly significant. Equally important, the building has, through its
design, recaptured the spirit of Myron Hunt's 1908 campus plan, opening north-south axes
across Marston Quadrangle to Mabel Shaw Bridges Hall of Music and Sumner Hall, and
creating an east-west corridor from Mason Hall to Rains Center. The period of President
Peter Stanley's tenure was remarkable for the significance of the new buildings
constructed and, equally, for the number, quality, and extent of renovations of older
structures. That Pomona's campus today bears a closer relationship to its historical roots
than has been the case for many years is a tribute to the sensitivity with which new
buildings have been designed and older ones restored to former glory while, at the same
time, being upgraded to meet contemporary needs.
The growth of the campus under Stanley's presidency was closely tied to that of the
endowment, which doubled between 1996 and 2002, ultimately exceeding $1 billion. This
unprecedented increase was due in great part to The Campaign for Pomona College, endorsed
in 1995. When formally launched in 1997, more than a third of the ultimate goal of $150
million was already in hand; by 2002, the campaign concluded 37 percent above its initial
goal, having raised over $206 million and significantly met every program objective. A
similarly impressive record was set in terms of applications for admission, which had set
new highs in each of the five preceding years, as had levels of academic achievement of
those admitted.
Following his retirement from Pomona College in 2003, Stanley served as the vice
president of executive search firm Isaacson. In 2008, Stanley returned to campus for
Pomona College's commencement ceremonies where he was awarded an honorary degree and the
Peter W. Stanley Academic Quadrangle was named in his honor.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
This collection includes general correspondence from Peter Stanley from 1991 to 1999,
Development correspondence and acknowledgement of gifts from 1992 to 1993, and
correspondence and ephemera related to Peter Stanley's inauguration in 1991. In addition to
correspondence, the collection includes materials related to the construction of Pomona
College's Byron Dick Seaver Theatre Complex from 1972 to 1990. A selection of Peter
Stanley's speeches and toasts from 1991 are also featured.
The collection is organized into the following two series:
- Series 1: Correspondence, 1972-2003
- Series 2: Oversize Materials, 1985-1991
Folders are arranged alphabetically by file name within each series.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library’s online public access catalog.
Pomona College (Claremont, Calif.) -- Presidents
College buildings
College presidents
College presidents--Inauguration
Construction projects
Stanley, Peter W.
Theaters
Correspondence
Ephemera
Speeches, addresses, etc.