The Chancellor

Throughout the years, Nebraska U has had many Chancellors, some more adept than others. The 1930s saw two chancellors. The first was Chancellor Edgar A. Burnett. Burnett was a man who had been highly successful at building up the agriculture program. He was not very popular among the faculty. Chancellor Burnett was at a disadvantage because he served during the Great Depression which made building and further improvement on the University very difficult. This article describes a meeting between the governor and the Chancellor. At 73 years of age, Edgar Burnett was more than ready to retire (Burnett).

Chancellor Burnett was replaced by Chancellor C.S. Boucher. Mr. Boucher was immediately accepted by the faculty. The Chancellor had an easier time meeting with the state legislature to ask for appropriations because the economy was now on the rise after the Depression (Office).

Late in the summer of 1938 the Board of Regents announced the appointment of a new Chancellor, due to the resignation of E.A. Burnett, who had presided for eleven years. C.S. Boucher assumed the position, transferring from the presidency of West Virginia University. HE had also served for nine years as the dean of the College of Arts, Literature, and Science at the University of Chicago (Yearbook).

Genial, ash-blond, efficient promoter, Mr. Boucher had also served at the following institutions: University of Michigan; Washington University; Ohio State; University of Texas; and the University of Wisconsin. The new ‘prexy’, although but fifty-two years old, has been associate editor of the Mississippi Historical Review and is a member of the Royal Historical Society (Yearbook).

Photogenic describes the new Chancellor, C.S. Boucher. His tweeds and radiant grin appealed to students and alumni alike from the day of his arrival. His conversation is as colorful as his personality. His plans seem logical, constructive and progressive (Yearbook).