WMU honors Haenicke

By Ashley Wioskowski and Josh Holderbaum
Western Herald

To honor the life of President Emeritus Diether Haenicke, Ph.D., who died on Feb. 15, a memorial service will be held on Feb. 26at Miller Auditorium at 2:30 p.m.
A reception will follow afterwards in the Richmond Center for Visual Arts with any overflow expected to fill Shaw Theatre.
Much of the event was planned by Haenicke’s family, said Betty Kocher, secretary to the Board of Trustees and coordinator of the event.

“We’re doing it as his family would like,” Kocher said. “That’s what Dr. Haenicke would have liked.”

The event’s Master of Ceremonies will be D. Terry Williams, Ph.D., professor emeritus and former Department of Theatre chairman.
Musical selections were picked out by Haenicke’s family and will be played by the WMU School of Music’s Western Brass Quintet and Merling Trio.
Susan B. Anthony, a 1975 WMU Bachelor of Music and opera singer, as well as current members and alumni of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the honorary music fraternity, will also perform.
Haenicke was named an honorary member of the fraternity in 1993.

Among the speakers at the ceremony will be Haenicke’s son Kurt Haenicke.

Classes on Feb. 26 have been cancelled from 1:45 to 5 p.m. so that students can attend the ceremony. Thursday classes and midterm examinations before 1:45 or after 5 p.m. will still be held on main campus and Parkview campus.

“As many people probably know, we do not close this university very often,” WMU President John Dunn said. “I believe that learning life experiences can come in many different settings. I believe all can benefit from this opportunity.”

Students who came to WMU after Haenicke’s tenure or who simply didn’t know about the former president can still feel connected during the service, Dunn said.

“Our intent is that if they characterize Dr. Haenicke as someone they might not have known in their family, such as a great grandfather, your father’s father’s father, you still know there’s a lineage there,” Dunn said. “As I’ve said before, you can see [Dr. Haenicke’s] footprint anywhere you look on campus.”

Haenicke served as the university’s fifth president from 1985 to 1998, and as a one-year interim president in 2006-07 before Dunn came to the university.
Haenicke, who was born in Germany, came to the United States as a Fulbright lecturer in the early 1960s. He earned a doctorate and graduated magna cum laude in 1962 from the University of Munich. His fields of study were in German and comparative literature, history, psychology and philosophy.

Before coming to WMU, Haenicke served as department chair, dean and provost at Wayne State University, and as dean, academic vice president and provost for Ohio State University.
During his first presidential term at WMU, the university conducted a $62 million capital campaign and several major buildings were constructed and several more were renovated and expanded.
Also during his tenure, WMU has increased recognition as a research institution and the application to Phi Beta Kappa honor society, making WMU one of less than 100 public institutions in the nation to be honored.

After his tenure as president, Haenicke returned to faculty in 1998 and retired from WMU as president emeritus in 2004.

In 1998, the university gathered its international operations into one organization, the Diether H. Haenicke Institute for Global Education, celebrating Haenicke’s passion for international studies.
Haenicke wrote over 200 published pieces. In 1999, he began writing a weekly column for the Kalamazoo Gazette and in 2003 a book was published with a collection of his columns titled “Wednesdays with Diether.”

Dunn first got to know Haenicke while being considered for the position of president, while Haenicke was serving as interim president.

“The first interaction I had with him was around the time of my first interview here when my wife and I had dinner with Diether and Carol [Haenicke’s wife],” Dunn said. “It didn’t take long to see that he was an abundantly special individual. It was his desire to always see the university go forward; that was his unwavering commitment to the university.”

Cheryl Roland, executive director of university relations, felt Haenicke’s fun-loving nature.

“I worked for him twice, during his term as president and again when he was interim president, working a bit more closely with him the second time,” Roland said. “He was truly a joy to work with; he knew how to make you laugh.”

Even Congressman Fred Upton spoke on Haenicke’s behalf, releasing a statement Feb. 16 that read: “There was no better friend to the greater Western Michigan University community than Diether. His commitment, logic, and steady humor kept us going in good times and bad. I will truly miss his insight, friendship, and guidance. We have all lost a supporter of the greater good.”
In an editorial in the Western Herald which was published in May 2008, the Herald praised Haenicke saying, “In an era where university presidents don’t last very long in office and the turn-over rate is more common, one former president stands out for his long-term commitment to Western Michigan University.”

In 2008, Haenicke received the Tony Griffin Golden Word Award, an honor presented to a person or group who has contributed to the field of communication.

The Diether H. Haenicke Memorial was established shortly after his death. Donations will go to WMU’s international study programs and other areas specified by Haenicke’s family. For more information, visit www.wmich.edu/foundation or call (269) 387-8700.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Feb 26 2009. Filed under Campus, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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