Hunter R. Rawlings III facts for kids

Hunter Ripley Rawlings III (born December 14, 1944) is an American scholar and university leader. He is known for studying ancient Greek and Roman history, known as classics. He also served as the leader, or president, of two major universities.

Rawlings was the 17th President of the University of Iowa from 1987 to 1995. He then became the 10th President of Cornell University from 1995 to 2003. He also stepped in as Cornell's temporary president two other times. These were from 2005 to 2006 and again from 2016 to 2017. Today, he is a Professor and President Emeritus in the Classics Department. This means he is a retired professor and former president.

Rawlings also led the Association of American Universities from 2011 to 2016. This group includes many top research universities in North America. He has been a leader for other important academic groups too. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He also helps guide several educational organizations. These include Haverford College and the National Academy Foundation.

Early Life and Education

Hunter Rawlings grew up in Norfolk, Virginia. He earned his first degree, a Bachelor of Arts, in classics from Haverford College in 1966. After that, he went to Princeton University. There, he earned his Ph.D. in classics in 1970. A Ph.D. is a very advanced degree.

After finishing his studies, he became a professor. He taught at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He became a full professor in 1980. Rawlings started his career in university management at Colorado. He led the classics department. Later, he became an associate vice chancellor for instruction. This role helps manage teaching programs.

In 1988, Rawlings became the president of the University of Iowa. He held this important position until 1995.

Rawlings' Family Life

Hunter Rawlings is married to Elizabeth T. Rawlings. She is a professional translator. This means she changes books and writings from one language to another. She has helped translate many books from French to English. These books are often about Greek and Latin literature or ancient history. The Rawlings family has four children and five grandchildren. His oldest son, Hunter Rawlings IV, is a successful author. He is also a former U.S. Marine Corps reconnaissance officer.

Leading Cornell University

Rawlings became the 10th president of Cornell University in 1995. He served in this role until 2003. At Cornell, he was very good at raising money. He led several large fundraising efforts for the university.

Rawlings created new programs to support students. He also started building new dorms. He made changes to where first-year students lived on campus. He also worked to make the university's admissions standards stronger.

Focus on Science and Learning

Rawlings started new projects in science and engineering. He thought these areas were very important for the future. Some of these fields included studying living things with computers (bioinformatics and computational biology). He also focused on computer science, information science, and genomics. Genomics is the study of genes. He also focused on materials science, which is about creating new materials.

He planned for a large new building called Weill Hall. This building would be for life sciences research. He also encouraged different subjects to work together. This happened especially in the humanities and social sciences. During his time, Cornell also agreed to open a branch of its medical school in Qatar. This is called the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar.

Teaching and Temporary Leadership

While he was president, Rawlings also taught classics. He continued to teach even after he left the presidency. For two years, he taught an undergraduate course in classics.

After his successor, Jeffrey S. Lehman, resigned in 2005, Rawlings returned. He became the temporary president of Cornell. He served until a new president, David J. Skorton, was chosen in 2006. Skorton had also been president of the University of Iowa, just like Rawlings.

In 2016, Cornell's president, Elizabeth Garrett, sadly passed away. Rawlings was again asked to be the temporary president. He started this role on April 25, 2016.

Research and Publications

Hunter Rawlings' research focuses on Greek history. He also studies historiography. This is the study of how history is written. He wrote a book called The Structure of Thucydides' History. It was published in 1981 by Princeton University Press.