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Ray Lyman Wilbur

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Ray Lyman Wilbur

Ray Lyman Wilbur (April 13, 1875 – June 26, 1949) was a medical doctor, the third president of Stanford University, and the 31st United States Secretary of the Interior.

Life

Wilbur was born in Boone County, Iowa, to Dwight Locke Wilbur and Edna Maria Lyman (his brother, Curtis Dwight Wilbur, became United States Secretary of the Navy under President Calvin Coolidge and a Judge of the Supreme Court of California). His family relocated to Riverside, California when he was twelve.[1]

Wilbur studied at Stanford University (B.A. 1896, M.A. 1897) and got a medical degree at Cooper Medical College in 1899. While a freshman at Stanford, he was approached by future President Herbert Hoover about giving his business to a steam laundry for whom Hoover was campus agent.[2] The two men became lifelong friends.[3]

During World War I, he served as chief of the conservation division of the United States Food Administration.[4] He later became Warren Harding's personal physician and was present at Harding's deathbed.

Dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine from 1911 to 1916, he served as president of Stanford from January 1, 1916 until 1943, including during his period as Secretary of the Interior. In 1940, in his most memorable address to the Stanford community, he told his students: "If you know a better place to live right now than this country, get a ticket and try to get there."[5] From 1943 until his death in 1949 he served as the university's chancellor.

Wilbur served as President of the American Medical Association from 1923-1924. His son, Dwight Locke Wilbur, followed in his footsteps as President of the AMA in 1968-1969. Wilbur belonged to several private men's clubs, including the Bohemian Club, the Pacific-Union Club, the Commonwealth Club and the University Club in San Francisco.[6]

In 1927, when the California Legislature established the State Park Commission,[7] Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur became one of the original commission members along with:[8] Major Frederick R. Burnham, W. F. Chandler, William E. Colby (Secretary), and Henry W. O'Melveny.

Secretary of the Interior

He was nominated for the position of Secretary of the Interior by his friend President Herbert C. Hoover on March 5, 1929, and took office the same day. His tenure ended on March 4, 1933.

As Secretary, one of Wilbur's first goals was to address the issue of corruption in the handling of contracts for naval oil reserves, which had previously been a source of controversy during the Harding Administration's Teapot Dome scandal. Wilbur promulgated a policy that no new oil leases would be greated to private individuals except when mandated by law.[9]

Secretary Wilbur was critized by political opponents for his allocation of power from the Boulder Dam to private utilites. Some opponets also criticized him for renaming the Boulder Dam after his friend, President Hoover.[10]

Wilbur took a particular interest in Native Americans while in office and reorganized the department's Bureau of Indian Affairs.[11] He made one of his principal goals and effort to make Native Americans more self-reliant.[12]

Death

Wilbur died of heart disease at his home in Palo Alto, California on June 26, 1949.[13] Former President Herbert Hoover eulogized as "my devoted friend and constant friend since boyhood."[14] He said of Wilbur: "During all his years, including his later chancellorship of Stanford, he has given a multitude of services to the people. Public health and education have been enriched over all these years from his sane statesmanship and rugged intellectual honesty. America is a better place for his having lived in it."[15]

Legacy

A dormitory complex at Stanford University is named after him.

References

  1. ^ Ray L. Wilbur Dies at Stanford at 74, The New York Times, June 27, 1949
  2. ^ Ray L. Wilbur Dies at Stanford at 74, The New York Times, June 27, 1949
  3. ^ Ray L. Wilbur Dies at Stanford at 74, The New York Times, June 27, 1949
  4. ^ Ray Lyman Wilbur Taken By Death, Los Angeles Times, June 27, 1949
  5. ^ Ray Lyman Wilbur Taken By Death, Los Angeles Times, June 27, 1949
  6. ^ Dulfer & Hoag. Our Society Blue Book, pp. 177–178. San Francisco, Dulfer & Hoag, 1925.
  7. ^ "Climb the mountains and get their good tidings: A History of the Sierra Club" (html). Retrieved 2006-07-07.
  8. ^ Colby, William E. (1933). "Borrego Desert Park". Sierra Club Bulletin. XVIII: 144. Retrieved 2007-07-29. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  9. ^ Ray L. Wilbur Dies at Stanford at 74, The New York Times, June 27, 1949
  10. ^ Ray L. Wilbur Dies at Stanford at 74, The New York Times, June 27, 1949
  11. ^ Ray L. Wilbur Dies at Stanford at 74, The New York Times, June 27, 1949
  12. ^ Ray L. Wilbur Dies at Stanford at 74, The New York Times, June 27, 1949
  13. ^ Ray Lyman Wilbur Taken By Death, Los Angeles Times, June 27, 1949
  14. ^ Ray Lyman Wilbur Taken By Death, Los Angeles Times, June 27, 1949
  15. ^ Ray Lyman Wilbur Taken By Death, Los Angeles Times, June 27, 1949

Further reading


Academic offices
Preceded by President of Stanford University
1916–1943 		Succeeded by
Political offices

Template:U.S. Secretary box

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