Regents name Glick Distinguished Nevadan

The Board of Regents today approved the nomination of the late Dr. Milton D. Glick as a Distinguished Nevadan, the highest honor awarded by the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Glick, the president of the University of Nevada, Reno, died on April 16 after a sudden stroke.

“Milt was the epitome of a Distinguished Nevadan,” said Board of Regents Chairman James Dean Leavitt. “He tirelessly worked to advance education not only at UNR, but across the state to make Nevada a better place to call home. He had a beautiful mind and a gigantic heart.”

The formal presentation of the award will be to Glick’s family members during UNR’s advanced degree commencement ceremonies on May 13.

Glick was appointed the 15th president of the University of Nevada, Reno and began in that role on Aug. 1, 2006. Since joining the university, his tenure has been marked by numerous campus milestones and an increased emphasis on student success. He led the UNR through a period of unprecedented progress and growth, despite economic challenges. Under his leadership, UNR reached several new heights of national stature for teaching and research. His
emphasis on increasing retention and graduation rates led to recent gains, and enrollment has grown to the largest in the university’s history. Last year, UNR graduated its largest class ever, marking a 66 percent increase in the number of baccalaureate degrees awarded over 10 years.

Upon assuming the presidency, Glick issued a campus-wide challenge to recruit more National Merit Scholars. Today UNR is recognized as a National Merit Sponsor school and has a record number of National Merit Scholars. He encouraged the creation of what he termed “a sticky campus” – a dynamic place where both the student body and the community feel engaged and excited. He also shepherded the opening of several student or research centered buildings on the Reno campus which, as he said, have changed the face and very nature of the university.

Glick was born in Memphis, Tenn., in 1937 and grew up in Rock Island, Ill., part of the “Quad Cities” area along the Illinois-Iowa border. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Augustana College in Rock
Island in 1959, he earned his doctorate in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisc., in 1965. Following two years of postdoctoral studies at Cornell University, he joined the chemistry faculty at Wayne
State University in Detroit. He remained at Wayne State for 17 years.

During that time he became a leader of the faculty senate, and during his final five years there served as chair of the chemistry department. In the initial phase of his academic career, Glick was a noted researcher in the field of X-ray crystallography. His work was funded for 15 consecutive years by the National Science Foundation and he published 99 research articles during that time.

Prior to being named University of Nevada, Reno president, Glick served 15 years as executive vice president and provost at Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz. During his tenure at Arizona State – first as senior vice
president and, later, as executive vice president and provost – he contributed to a long string of accomplishments including increased retention and graduation rates and a tripling of sponsored research.

Prior to his role at Arizona State, he spent three years as provost at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, and he served as interim president of Iowa State in his final eight months there. His first senior administrative position was dean of the College of Arts and Science at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo., in the mid-1980s.

An early adopter of technology, Dr. Glick was nationally recognized as an academic leader who envisioned the role of technology in higher education.

His presentations to national conferences and seminars on the topic brought together audiences of faculty, administrators and information technology leaders, and contributed to trends and innovations.
About the University of Nevada, Reno Nevada’s land-grant university founded in 1874, the University of Nevada, Reno has an enrollment of more than 17,000 students. The University is home to the state’s medical school and one of the country’s largest study-abroad programs, and offers outreach and education programs in all Nevada counties. For more information, visit www.unr.edu. The University of Nevada, Reno is part of the Nevada System of Higher Education.