- Arthur Flemming
Arthur Sherwood Flemming (
June 12 ,1905 -September 7 ,1996 ) wasUnited States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare between 1958 - 1961 under PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower . Fleming was an important force in the shaping of Social Security policy for more than four decades. He also served as president of theUniversity of Oregon andOhio Wesleyan University . In 1966, he was elected to a four-year term as president of theNational Council of Churches , the leading Christian ecumenical organization in the United States.Early life and education
Born in
Kingston, New York , Flemming was diagnosed with polio at the age of six. He managed to make a full recovery by age eight. Flemming was a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, class of 1927, and a member of the Epsilon Chapter ofAlpha Sigma Phi Fraternity.Federal government career
Dr. Flemming's government career began in 1939 when U.S. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him to the U.S. Civil Service Commission. He was a member of theHoover Commission which studied the organization of the federal government in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Flemming was the Chairman of the White House Conference on Aging in 1971 and was appointed U.S. Commissioner on Aging by President Nixon. Flemming was also a co-founder of the Save Our Security coalition, a Social Security advocacy group. He was the recipient of two Presidential Medals of Freedom, one in 1957 from President Eisenhower and the second one in 1994 from PresidentBill Clinton . Secretary of Health and Human ServicesDonna Shalala said of Flemming: "He was one of the great intellects of social policy, combining extraordinary knowledge with a rare gift for policy-making."University president
Flemming served as president of
Ohio Wesleyan University . He was the university's first president to be an alumnus and a layman (non-ordained minister). Having served in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations, his Wesleyan inauguration at the June commencement of 1949 drew many famous speakers and celebrities. From 1961 to 1968, Flemming served as University of Oregon president. During his popular and controversial tenure, the number of students grew from 8,000 to 14,000, and federal funding that the University received rose dramatically. Flemming was responsible for the addition of the School of Community Services and Public Affairs, thePine Mountain Observatory and the building of various laboratories on campus. He defended the right ofCommunist Party USA leaderGus Hall to speak on campus and also convinced Tom Autzen to contribute money toward the building ofAutzen Stadium .Flemming died of
acute renal failure at aretirement home inAlexandria, Virginia and is buried at the Montrepose Cemetery in his hometown of Kingston,New York .ee also
*
Arthur S. Flemming Award External links
* [http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/listofholdingshtml/finding_aids_f.html Papers of Arthur S. Flemming, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library]
* [http://www.ssa.gov/history/flemming.html Arthur Flemming] , from the United StatesSocial Security Administration
* [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/oralhist/flemming.htm Oral History Interview with Arthur S. Flemming]
* [http://www.igpa.uiuc.edu/ethics/flemming-bio.htm Paul Douglas Ethics in Government Award]
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