The New Yorker: George D. Stoddard

Abstract

Stoddard, president of the university from 1946 to 1953, was a controversial man, an East Coaster, a liberal, and an internationalist. Through much of his tenure he had difficult relations with both the university’s board of trustees and the state legislature, and he also faced opposition from conservative faculty at UI. A scandal over a phony cancer cure brought undesired publicity to the school and was the last in a series of controversies that led to his dismissal by the board in a late-night Illini Union meeting.