Dr. Herbert Longenecker, former Tulane president, dies at 98
09-28-2010 Times Picayune
Submitted by N.O.V.A.


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Dr. Herbert Longenecker, a biochemist who was Tulane University's president from 1960 to 1975, died Sept. 18
in Birmingham, Ala. He was 98.

Dr. Longenecker, who had lived in Birmingham since 1983, led Tulane during a period of achievement and
upheaval. During his tenure, a library, a science center and dormitories were built on the Uptown campus.
Tulane University Hospital was erected at the downtown medical center, and a Canal Street hotel was
converted to a residence hall. A primate center was established outside Covington, and research laboratories
were set up near Belle Chasse.

But those years were also marked by dramatic changes. The university was desegregated during the early
1960s, and opposition to the Vietnam War grew during the latter part of that decade.

Antiwar activists frequently heckled Dr. Longenecker at ceremonies, and they even torched an empty barracks
building on Freret Street that was used for storage, said Joseph Gordon, former dean of the College of Arts
and Sciences.

On one occasion, Gordon said, students camped outside the president's house at 2 Audubon Place and chanted.

"He and his family would hunker down and let them go, not bother them, figuring they would eventually
leave," Gordon said.

Despite the occasionally hostile climate, "he was always a gentleman," said Florence Andre, who worked with
Dr. Longenecker when she was president of the Newcomb College student body and, later, as a counselor to
Newcomb students.

"He served in a difficult time in America, a difficult time to be a university president," said Tulane
President Scott Cowen, who met with Dr. Longenecker shortly after taking office.

"The nation was divided, ... and the student body was both divided and active on both sides of the issue. No
matter what decision you made, there were likely to be protests," Cowen said.

As it turned out, Dr. Longenecker and Gordon shared a Tulane stage with President Gerald Ford on the night
in April 1975 when Ford proclaimed, during what was expected to be a routine speech, that the Vietnam War
was "finished as far as America is concerned."

The 5,300 people who had crowded into the muggy fieldhouse burst into sustained applause.

Dr. Longenecker was born in Lititz, Pa., and earned bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees at the
Pennsylvania State College, now Pennsylvania State University. A musician who played clarinet, saxophone and
violin with the Varsity 10 Orchestra, he briefly considered a career as a musician, said his daughter,
Marjorie Longenecker White.

In 1936, Dr. Longenecker received a postdoctoral fellowship that let him research his specialties, fats and
oils, in England, Germany and Canada.

When Dr. Longenecker returned to the United States in 1938, he joined the faculty and research staff of the
University of Pittsburgh. During the next 17 years, he was a biochemistry professor, dean of research in the
natural sciences and dean of the Graduate School. In 1944, the American Chemical Society named him one of
the 10 ablest chemists in the United Sates in his specialty.

During World War II, Dr. Longenecker put his skills to work for the war effort. One of the committees on
which he served helped redesign K-rations and powdered foods that soldiers received.

Among the scientists whom Dr. Longenecker brought to Pittsburgh was Dr. Jonas Salk, who conducted at the
university the animal and human tests that led to the landmark achievement of the first polio vaccine.

In 1955, the University of Illinois hired Dr. Longenecker to lead its Chicago colleges of dentistry,
medicine and pharmacy; its school of nursing; and its 620-bed hospital.

Dr. Longenecker's next stop was Tulane, where he stayed until his retirement. From 1967 to 1969, he was
managing director of the New Orleans World Trade Center.

He was a fellow of the American Public Health Society, the American Institute of Chemists, the New York
Academy of Medicine and the Institute of Medicine in Chicago. In 1977, he received the Benemerenti medal
from Pope Paul VI in honor of his service.

At Tulane, Dr. Longenecker established an award in honor of his wife, Marjorie Jane Segar Longenecker, to
salute women's contributions to the university. She died in 2005.

Survivors include his wife, Katherine Butler Longenecker; two sons, Dr. Herbert Longenecker Jr. of Mobile,
Ala., and Dr. Stanton Longenecker of Jacksonville, Fla.; a daughter, Marjorie Longenecker White of
Birmingham; 13 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held Friday at 3:30 p.m. at the Jane Segar Longenecker Chapel at St. Martin's in
the Pines Apartments in Birmingham. Burial will be in Lancaster County, Pa., at a later date.