HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — Shelby Thames, a pioneer in polymer sciences and a former president of the University of Southern Mississippi, has retired, according to an announcement from the school.
Thames founded USM’s research program in polymer science. He was university president for five years, from 2002-2007.
The Hattiesburg American reports (http://hatne.ws/NshDAx ) that Thames retired last week with no formal announcement.
In 1970, Thames convinced then-President William McCain to let him start a one-man department of polymer sciences — then a novelty among research universities. During the next two decades, Thames built that one-man show into a prestigious program.
“We went from a tiny lab with one piece of instrumentation that cost $100 to now where we have this building (The Shelby Freland Thames Polymer Science Research Center), one of the best polymer research facilities in the world and millions of dollars in equipment,” said Bob Lochhead, who currently serves as director of the School of Polymers and Higher Performance Materials.
But his tenure as president was marked by a contentious relationship with the school’s faculty members, many of whom criticized his leadership style as autocratic.
In a 2004 interview with The Associated Press, Thames, when asked if his clashes with faculty were fueled by a mutual distrust or dislike, said: “I don’t dislike anybody. I just want them to do what I say.”
Thames’ success can be attributed, in part, to his knack for external research fundraising. That ability extended into his presidency, which reached a record $102 million in external research grants in 2006.
“To his credit, he put research on the map at Southern Miss in a very significant way,” said former Faculty Senate President Myron Henry, a Thames critic.
Henry said Thames wasn’t one for seeking input from others.
“He had in his head an idea of how things should be run, and many times it went in the wrong direction — from the point of many faculty members,” he said.
The suspension of two tenured professors — Frank Glamser and Gary Stringer for investigating the academic credentials of then-vice president of research Angie Dvorak — in 2004 led to a “collapse of confidence” among faculty members, Henry said,
Thames received an overwhelming faculty no-confidence vote in 2004.
In 2005, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools placed USM on academic probation in 2005 for two years of noncompliance with accreditation standards for long-distance education.
Thames resigned as president in 2007 and returned to his position within the university as a distinguished research professor — a post he held when he retired.
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Information from: The Hattiesburg American, http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com
