Arend Donselaar Lubbers | |
Birth Date: | 23 July 1931 |
Birth Place: | Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
Education: | AB, Hope College, 1953 AM, Rutgers University, 1956 |
Occupation: | College administrator |
Employer: | 1969-2001, President of Grand Valley State University 1960-1969, President of Central College (Iowa) |
Boards: | Grand Bank Macatawa Bank Hackley Hospital Olivet College Pierce Cedar Creek Institute of Environmental Research and Education Grand Rapids Community Foundation Porter Hills Foundation West Michigan Sports Commission |
Spouse: | m. Eunice L. Mayo, June 19, 1953 (div.) m. Nancy Vanderpol, December 21, 1968 |
Children: | with Eunice: Arend Donselaar, John Irwin Darrow, Mary Elizabeth with Nancy: Robert Andrew, Caroline Jayne |
Parents: | Irwin Jacob and Margaret (Van Donselaar) Lubbers |
Awards: | Golden Plate Award, 1962 Golden-Emblem Order of Merit, Polish People's Republic, 1988 Trustee's Award for Community Leadership, Aquinas College, 1998 Lifetime Achievement Award, Economic Club of Grand Rapids, 2001 named 1 of top 100 young men in U.S., Life (magazine), 1962. LittD, Central College, 1977 DSc, University of Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, 1987 LHD, Hope College, 1988 DSc, Akademia Ekonomiczna, Krakow, Poland, 1989 DSc, University of Kingston, England, 1995 LittD, Grand Valley State University LittD, Olivet College, 2008. Arts Building at Central College named after Lubbers and his father |
Footnotes: | [1] |
Arend Donselaar "Don" Lubbers (born July 23, 1931) was president of Grand Valley State University (and predecessor Grand Valley State College) from 1969 to 2001. He was the second president of Grand Valley, serving after James Zumberge and before Mark Murray. He currently holds the title of President Emeritus. Most of the university's growth came during his tenure.
Lubbers graduated from Hope College, where his father Irwin Lubbers was president, and received his master's degree from Rutgers University in 1956.
He taught at Wittenberg University .
He served as president of Central College in Pella, Iowa, until he became Grand Valley's president.
Lubbers became president of what was then Grand Valley State College at the age of 37, making him one of the nation's youngest university presidents.
The university expanded from a small cluster of colleges to Michigan's fastest growing university.
Lubbers Stadium on the Allendale Campus is named for him.
When he retired in 2001, Lubbers was the longest serving state university leader in the country.