After serving 18 years as the University Board of Visitors’ secretary, Alexander G. Gilliam will retire at the end of this month.
Gilliam graduated from the University in 1955, returning 20 years later to work as the special assistant to three University presidents. During the course of 50 years, he saw the University undergo several changes.
“It seems to me that the changes I’ve seen are part of a natural progression, one that’s left the core values of the University intact,” Gilliam said.
When he attended the University as an undergraduate, there were very few black students enrolled and even fewer women, who were not officially admitted to the University until the 1970s. But now, Gilliam said, the University is incredibly diverse and the student body has grown exponentially.
The University also has developed in the area of international studies. One of Gilliam’s most memorable moments, he said, was a speech by former University President Robert O’Neil about the importance of giving students the opportunity to study abroad and establishing connections with faculty members of foreign universities.
“The number and variety of study abroad programs we have now pleases me greatly,” Gilliam said.
Gilliam worked in the foreign services before he returned to the University and also served a year as dean of international studies. During his term as the dean of international studies, Gilliam organized the University to receive foreign visitors like the queen of England in 1976.
Although Gilliam joked that he has spent his time at the University “hanging up coats and hats,” most agree that his service to the University has been invaluable. The Board of Visitors honored Gilliam at a meeting last Friday.
“We will miss him,” Board Rector Heywood Fralin said. “His service has been tremendous and he’s been very wise and level-headed ... His common sense has been of great value.”
Fralin also noted that as secretary, Gilliam served as the “communications arm” of the Board.
Although Gilliam is leaving his position on the Board of Visitors, he is not going into full retirement. Instead, he will move his office from the Rotunda to the Harrison Institute, where he will assume the title of University historian. The Board has yet to announce Gilliam’s successor.
“It’s been a great time,” Gilliam said. “It really has.”
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