After the War

While America was at war from 1941 to 1945, the University System had to adapt to conditions at home. Enrollment during those years fell drastically, from 13,736 in 1940 to 6,496 (civilian) in 1944. The drop in enrollment brought a financial crunch as well, since the institutions received most of their revenue from student fees. The regents also changed the curriculum somewhat to accommodate those students called into service, in many instances making exceptions to certain graduation requirements.

Following World War II, Congress passed a GI Bill, a piece of legislation that gave student financial aid to those who had served in the war. With the bill, college enrollment across the country boomed - up to 25,000 for the University System in 1947, half of whom were veterans. The sudden influx of students brought a need for new programs, buildings and equipment, and just after the war Chancellor Sanford became a driving force behind a new expansion program for the System. He also stressed the need for more agriculture and graduate research in sciences, technology and liberal arts.

Although Sanford initiated rebuilding efforts in the System, he was unable to see them carried out. During a presentation at the board's September 1945 meeting, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. Three days later he was dead. Sanford was replaced, temporarily, by former board Chairman Marion Smith until a permanent replacement could be found.

A few months later, a new chancellor was appointed: Raymond R. Paty, former president of the University of Alabama and a respected academician. Paty's term as chancellor was brief - only two years - but during his administration construction began on a School of Veterinary Medicine at UGA and a School of Textile Engineering at Georgia Tech. On October 15, 1948, he tendered his resignation to the board to take a public relations position with Rich's department store.

Paty was replaced by Harmon W. Caldwell, who at the time was president of the University of Georgia. Caldwell was the third chief officer at UGA to become chancellor of the University System, and he presided over a decade of slow but steady growth in the 1950s. Although enrollment in that period remained fairly constant - those enrolled under the GI Bill had graduated, and the Baby Boom generation had not yet reached college age - the Fifties did bring a marked increase in building projects and faculty salaries.

At the outset, professor salaries in the System averaged $4,221, or 12.5 percent below other southeastern states; by the end of the decade, the average salary was up to $6,235. As for building projects, the regents spent some $79 million on new construction - a figure that didn't include government-sponsored structures such as the Eugene Talmadge Memorial Hospital at the Medical College of Georgia. A special repair and rehabilitation fund for older buildings also was established.

The calm of the 1950s was not to last, however. The dawning of the 1960s signaled the beginning of an explosive decade for higher education in the United States, and in Georgia as well.