Educator, Foundation Executive
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
1968
Citation:
There are many ways to contribute to higher education. Teaching and administration within our colleges and universities is one way. Dr. Manning M. Pattillo, Jr. followed this way for seven years at the University of Chicago, advancing from instructor to associate professor of higher education in that time. In his career as foundation executive, he has continued to contribute to the well-being of higher education on the national level. As executive director for education with the Lilly Foundation and director of the Danforth Foundation's Commission on Church-related Colleges and Universities, Dr. Pattillo continued to study higher education, especially in schools with church affiliation. He is a friend of this kind of education, the best kind of friend: one who is appreciative of the strengths of our schools, but also insistent that we perform even greater service to our students and society. The study which Dr. Pattillo co-authored, Church Sponsored Higher Education, is much more than just another report on the status of church-related schools. It is at once an independent appraisal and a friendly challenge. To many of us the report is also a watershed. Church-related schools must meet the challenge head-on or become ineffectual. They must move ahead to fulfill the promise which the Pattillo-Mackenzie report assures them they have in American higher education or they can stagnate and eventually die. Dr. Pattillo had done us an important service in laying out the alternatives. Today, as a church-related university, we want to acknowledge his contribution to this kind of education throughout America. Reverend President, it is my privilege to present Dr. Manning M. Pattillo, Jr. for the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters. Commencement, University of Detroit, May 4, 1968.