A. L. Strand

August Leroy Strand (February 12, 1894 – April 27, 1980) was an American entomologist who served as President of Montana State University from 1937 to 1942, and as President of Oregon State University from 1942 to 1961. He has also served as a professor of entomology, being the head of the Department of Entomology at Montana State College.

Life and career Strand was born on February 12, 1894, in Victoria, Texas, where the last child, Helen E., was born in 1905. Strand graduated from Helena High School in 1913. From 1917 to 1919, he served in the United States Navy as an aviator with the rank of ensign.

Strand inherited a college somewhat adrift. President George W. Peavy had retired in July 1940, and was replaced by Dr. Frank Llewellyn Ballard (vice president overseeing the cooperative extension service). Ballard fell ill and turned over his duties to an administrative council. But as it became clear that his illness was going to be a lengthy one followed by an extensive convalescence, Ballard resigned in 1941. Dr. Francois A. Gilfillan, Dean of Science, was named interim president. Gilfillan remained involved in research in synthetic rubber, and the need for rubber for the war drew his attention more and more.

After a nationwide search, the state commissioners of higher education awarded the presidency to Strand. Strand was an autocratic leader asked for little input from his administrators or the student body, little appreciated advice, and reacted defensively when challenged. Nonetheless, his governance style fit well with most of the period in which he served as president. Enrollment at OSC fell by half during his first year in office as young men enlisted or were drafted into the armed forces. OSC's key location near the West Coast and relative safety inland from widely anticipated Imperial Japanese attack made it an ideal location for military research and training, and the United States Army seized many campus buildings for the duration of the national emergency.

Once the war ended, however, Strand rapidly rebuilt Oregon State. Between 1945 and 1960, enrollment doubled. A firm believer in scientific research, Strand pushed faculty at OSC to engage in research and for faculty and the university to apply for federal research grant funding. To support this effort, he created the Science Research Institute to receive this funding, and added new research laboratories to study transportation and water resources. Much of Strand's focus was on the School of Science, which became the largest school at Oregon State. The School of Science rapidly expanded its curriculum and course offerings, and added departments of natural resources, oceanography, and statistics. His effort was largely successful, as Oregon State became one of the most active research universities in the nation. Strand won legislative approval to expand the School of Education, School of Pharmacy, and School of Science; build a new School of Business and Technology and a new School of Humanities and Social Sciences; and designate the school as a university and rename it Oregon State University. He also created the university's first undergraduate honors program, and constructed a startling 25 new buildings on campus. Among these was the $2.38 million Valley Library and the $5 million engineering-physics building. Also constructed during his tenure was Gill Coliseum and Parker Stadium.

A major scandal rocked Oregon State University in 1949. In February, Strand summarily fired untenured professor of chemistry Ralph Spitzer and untenured professor of economics L. R. LaVallee. Neither was given a reason for their dismissal, but Strand believed that both individuals were communists and working with the Soviet Union to undermine not only Oregon State but the United States. (In particular, Strand was outraged that Spitzer supported the environmentally acquired genetic inheritance theories of Soviet scientist Trofim Lysenko.) By the end of February, Strand found himself the target of several scathing attacks, although most of the public, faculty, and student body supported him. Among those critical of the terminations were Sidney Hook and Linus Pauling. Strand's replies to these critics (and he responded to a great many of them) were often rude, condescending, and offensive. Although the "Spitzer affair" quieted down after a year or two, Pauling refused all invitations to visit Oregon State for decades. Shortly after the incident ended, writer Bernard Malamud visited the campus to conduct research for a novel about the "Spitzer affair". He used this research for his 1961 novel A New Life.

Death A.L. Strand died April 27, 1980, in a nursing home in Corvallis, Oregon, after an extended illness.

Memberships and honors Strand served on the Council of Presidents of the American Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (now known as the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities), and served for a time as the council's chairman. He also served for a time on the board of directors of the Foundation for American Agriculture. He was also a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Sigma Xi.

Personal life Strand married Mollie Josephine Allen on July 2, 1919. She was the daughter of C.J. and Sarah (Connell) Allen, and born in Galway, Irish Free State, on September 14, 1894. The couple had three children: James A., born in 1924; Patsy M., born in 1926; and Roy D., born in 1932.