The End Of An Era: Dean Lucas Retires

University policy required administrators to retire following their 65th birthday. The passage of time caught up with John W. Lucas and he retired at the end of the 1968 academic year. Retiring, however, only meant retiring from an administrative position, not the University. Dean Lucas assumed classroom duties with his colleagues in marketing.

In 1969, George Heather, former dean of business at Texas Technological College, assumed the CBA deanship. Within a year, several of what can be termed "more vocal" CBA faculty members felt Dean Heather's leadership was inadequate and that he was not directing the College toward a higher plane of academic recognition, especially in faculty research and publication. However, other members of the faculty felt they were hired to teach rather than publish and expressed satisfaction with Dean Heather's leadership. They most likely recalled that in 1961, Dean Lucas, in his annual report to President Bail noted that "...our faculty is not one that publishes."

A series of meetings between and among faculty members helped to resolve many of the philosophical differences regarding teaching, research, and service. Kirk Naylor acted favorably on a faculty petition urging the removal of Dean Heather and encouraged him to join the Marketing faculty where he held his professorship. A search committee was formed to locate a replacement dean. A professor of Finance, George Harris, became the college's interim dean in 1971 and remained in that position until William Muse became dean of CBA in August of 1973.