William John Tietz Jr. (pronounced TEE-tz; March 6, 1927 – June 10, 2020) was an American veterinarian who was Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University from 1971 to 1977 and president of Montana State University from 1977 to 1990. A group of historians named Tietz one of Montana State's four most important presidents in 2011.
Early life and education
William Tietz was born in 1927 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Irma Helen (Neuman) and William John Tietz. He grew up in nearby Hinsdale, and graduated from Hinsdale Central High School in 1945.
After 6 years in the United States Navy, he enrolled at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, where he ran track and was on the social committee. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in zoology in 1950. He immediately enrolled at the University of Wisconsin and graduated with a master's degree in zoology in 1952. He briefly studied the metabolism of small animals in arctic conditions in Alaska, and was employed for a short time by Baxter Laboratories in Illinois. He then entered the College of Veterinary Medicine at Colorado State University, and earned his doctor of veterinary medicine in 1957. He immediately pursued a doctorate in physiology and pathology at the Purdue University School of Veterinary Science and Medicine, graduating in 1961.
Academic career
After receiving his doctorate, Tietz was appointed assistant professor of veterinary physiology at Purdue. He left in 1964 to take a position as an associate professor of radiobiology and physiology at Colorado State University (CSU). He was appointed Chair of the Department of Physiology and Biophysics on March 15, 1967. He later also was named the associate director of the CSU Agricultural Experiment Station. He was appointed CSU's Vice President for Student-University Relations in 1970. He served in the position for a year, during which time he acted as liaison between students and the university in an attempt to keep student unrest low. On September 1, 1971, he was appointed Dean of the CSU College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. While dean, he helped found a program whereby Montana State University students could begin their veterinary medical education at Bozeman, and then transfer to Colorado State.
Tietz was appointed the ninth president of Montana State University by unanimous vote of the Board of Regents on August 1, 1977.
Montana State University
Tietz had an "aggressive, cocky, out-spoken, and dynamic" personal style. His governance of the university was very top-down, and controlled by a small, close-knit team of decision-makers. Tietz fought challenges to his authority vigorously. When the state commissioner of higher education told him to do something, he once replied, "Don't you tell me how to run Montana State University." This decision-making style was eagerly embraced by MSU administrators, faculty, and staff, who saw it as the kind of aggressive leadership lacking under the more soft-spoken, behind-the-scenes leadership of the previous president, Carl W. McIntosh.
Tietz believed that Montana State University (MSU) should be far more research-oriented. He encouraged faculty to engage in research, encouraged them to apply for federal research grant money, and required university administrators to seek out federal research funds to expand, renovate, and build new research buildings on campus. Research funding during his tenure rose to $18 million in 1990 from $7 million in 1977. As part of his emphasis on research, he began fully funding the university's teacher development, research development, and sabbatical leave programs. Under Tietz, faculty received full pay for sabbaticals.