USD Magazine, Summer 1995

Hughes had to make sure the people involved were comfortable with the myriad issues that a corporate merger can raise. "Art was a positive influence from the moment he arrived, and he presided over what became a very smooth transition," says Anita Figueredo, a College for Women trustee who still sits on the USD board of trustees. "He came aboard without any agenda of his own except to fulfill what we wanted. He helped us find out what we needed to do and has since exceeded by far the ambitions we had." In those early months, Hughes had to call upon every facet of the experience he brought with him to San Diego. With doc– torate, master's and undergraduate degrees in business, he quickly grasped the corporate nuances associated with the merger that would create USD. He drew up a document called "A Joint Venture in Higher Education" to address those issues. His background as a professor of business and dean of the School of Business at Northern Arizona University meant he could relate to faculty concerns. And his success as a vice presi– dent at NAU - where he developed a second campus for that university - showed that he was prepared to lead a fledgling institution that was just beginning to form a new identity. When the merger was complete, the work was far from over. The structures of the two schools had to be reorganized into one and the duplicate departments and facilities combined. And while the College for Women had been solvent, the College for Men carried with it a debt that had to be retired by the newly formed institution. Although there were to be some growing pains, Author Hughes always believed that USD would suc– ceed. And those who were present in the early years never had a doubt that he was the key to making that success happen. "Art's personal approach and passion for detail made possible the transition from two small schools to one great university, " says Therese Truitt Whitcomb '53, the first graduate of the

member of USD's board of trustees. "Everybody liked him, and we all wished we could command the same respect and admira– tion from people that he did." That respect and admiration for Hughes is one of the ele– ments that carried USD through its tenuous early years, and still carries it today. Perhaps it was divine guidance, perhaps just the wisdom of the people that hired Art Hughes. But in 1971, the campus that sat atop the hill overlooking Mission Bay needed a leader who would be respected, liked and admired. There was much work to be done, and USD had to have the support of its own people as well as people throughout the San Diego community. Art Hughes, with heartfelt friendli– ness for each new person he met and an unwavering dedication to his new role as USD's president, was able to build that sup– port, one person at a time. cf!ln tk 6(:fffiim'ing gh Author Hughes has filled his years at USD with ands of hours of hard work, he began his time at Alcala m much the same way as anyone starting a new job. " I came in on my first morning and looked around and thought, 'Well this is where I sit,"' Hughes recalls. "There was nothing on my desk: no mail, no agenda, no appointments. So I thought, 'Well, I wonder what I do today.' So I decided that I would get out and start meeting people.'' The most important group of people Hughes had to meet were the members of the two boards of trustees - one for the College for Women and one for the College for Men - who were in the process of finalizing the merger of the two institutions into the University of San Diego. Hughes spent nine months reporting separately to the two boards, and receiving two paychecks. Although both colleges wanted to become one university,

1977

• Philip Y. Hahn School ofNursing opens.

• School ofNursing offers master's degree.

1975

1978

• Honors program begins.

• Enrollment tops 3,100.

• USD budget in the black.

M A G A Z

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