John Edward Corbally Jr. (October 14, 1924 – July 23, 2004) was an American academic administrator and university president. Corbally led Syracuse University from 1969 to 1971 before becoming president of the University of Illinois system from 1971 to 1979. He held roles in numerous non-profit organizations, including a decade as the first president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Early life
Corbally was born in South Bend, Washington, on October 14, 1924, to John E. Corbally Sr., a University of Washington education professor, and Grace (née Williams) Corbally.
During World War II, Corbally held the rank of lieutenant junior grade in the United States Navy. He saw battle in the Pacific Ocean theater and received a Purple Heart.
After the war, Corbally returned to school, where he met his wife Marguerite Walker; they married in 1946.
In 1947, with a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington, he took a job as a high school chemistry teacher in Tacoma. He pursued further education at the University of Washington, graduating with a master's degree in 1950. He earned a doctorate in 1955 from the University of California, Berkeley and put his degree in educational administration and finance to work by taking an associate professor position at Ohio State University, where he would eventually become provost and vice president of academic affairs, positions held until he accepted the chancellor position at Syracuse University in 1969.
University president
Syracuse University
Corbally replaced William Pearson Tolley as chancellor at Syracuse and reorganized the school's administration structure to match what he had experienced at Ohio, adding a provost and multiple vice president positions as opposed to the single vice chancellor position that the university had before.
During his short time as chancellor, Corbally faced crises spurred on by civil unrest surrounding the Vietnam War and race relations. Tolley, his predecessor, was a proponent of military education on campus; this included the establishment of a Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program. By the time Tolley left office, the university faced major financial issues and there was uncertainty regarding the future of the ROTC program. Corbally advocated for keeping the program and its academic accreditation, an idea which was opposed by students hostile to a military presence on campus, some of whom participated in a sit-in of the ROTC building in February 1970. The matter was referred to the school senate, a democratic body composed of students, faculty, and administrators, which voted to keep the program open, a move which many students felt was forced by the chancellor.
Later that same year, on May 4, the shooting of four students at Kent State protesting against the United States' invasion of Cambodia led directly to the student strike of 1970, a nationwide protest by students on college campuses against US involvement in Vietnam, including at Syracuse. Early protests on campus led to firebombing and window-breaking, but Corbally's decision to cancel classes and allow the students to protest without police or administration interference arguably resulted in more moderate protests than at other colleges.
The peace was short lived, however, as in August 1970, eight black players on the Syracuse Orange football team did not show up for preseason practice, citing systemic racism in the program and discrimination by coach Ben Schwartzwalder. The move was a continuation of a boycott of spring practice by the players, and they were automatically suspended as a result. A university report released in December of that year declared that there was a chronic problem of racism in the Syracuse athletics programs, though in some cases the discrimination was unintentional. In response, Corbally reinstated the players and approved the creation of the Athletic Policy Board to oversee athletics at the school. The board would include input from students and ensure that all students, regardless of race, were entitled to fair treatment.
In early 1971, Corbally was offered the presidency of the University of Illinois system, which he readily accepted. The board chair called the resignation, "quite unexpected". The suddenness of his resignation at Syracuse led to speculation that he had been pressured to leave due to the tense events of 1970 or that he wanted to jump ship from a school still facing financial difficulties.