Proceedings of the Board of Regents (1936-1939)

598

ANNUAL JUNE MEETING, 1938

represents. His scholarly publications on early Christian art have brought him
recognition both at home and abroad. He interprets art as a quickening force in
the history of man's progress and firmly maintains the heritage of a great tradition.
JOHN STRONG PERRY TATLOCK. A graduate of Harvard, for sixteen years a
prominent member of our faculty, since 1929 Professor of English at the University
of California, who has carried with him the respect and esteem of his colleagues here
for his vigorous personality, his effective teaching, and his scholarly attainments.
His researches in the poetry of Chaucer and his contributions to early English
literature are known to every specialist in his field; not less important have been
his studies in Dante, mediaeval Latin, and the history of the Middle Ages. To them
all he brings precision of thought, lucidity of style, and learning devoid of pedantry.
DOCTOR OF LAWS
OLIVER LYMAN SPAULDING. A native of Michigan, a graduate of the College
of Literature, Science, and the Arts in the class of 1895, of the Law School in 1896,
and honor graduate of the Artillery School in 1903, now Colonel of Field Artillery
in the United States Army and Chief of the Historical Section of the Army War
College. An officer who has earned distinction on many fields of war, a historian
who has written with authority on the military methods of ancient and modern
times. His recent work on The United States Army in War and Peace has won wide
commendation for its accuracy and objectivity. Free from prejudice and propaganda,
he reviews the failures and achievements of military forces with the detachment
of a scholar.
ARBA SEYMOUR VAN VALKENBURGH. A native of New York, a graduate of the
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts in 1884. After practicing law in Kansas
City until 1897, he served as United States Attorney for the Western District of
Missouri, District Judge, and later as Circuit Judge. His career before the Bar and
on the Bench has been marked by a scholarly grasp of legal principles, ability to
interpret and administer justice, and by constant devotion to the public good. In
character and attainment he exemplifies the ideals of his profession.
JAMES FRANCIS COOKE. Critic and composer of music, now President of the
Presser Foundation. Born in Bay City, a graduate of the Grand Conservatory in
1900, he continued his education in the musical centers of Europe and early
distinguished himself by his contributions to German reviews. As teacher, author,
organist, editor, and president of large publishing concerns, he has made it his
steadfast purpose to extend the appreciation of music by a better understanding of
its principles and its masters. Through the written and the spoken word, and through
the melody of song he has added to the things that ennoble life and inform it with
spiritual meaning.
ERNEST ORLANDO LAWRENCE. A graduate of the University of South Dakota,
made Doctor of Philosophy at Yale University in 1925, now Professor of Physics in
the University of California. With marvelous ingenuity, directed by a fixed purpose,
he has devised and put into operation the most powerful and effective instrument
ever applied to nuclear research. His new cyclotron, radically differing in principle
from earlier equipment, has been adopted in the leading laboratories of the world,
and has led to discoveries of far-reaching importance. His profound contributions
to the solution of fundamental problems of physics have brought him coveted honors
and awards, among them the distinction of the Comstock Prize from the National
Academy of Sciences. Beyond others he has succeeded in showing how the bonds
of the atom may be broken, and how radioactivity can be created in various
substances with results that hold promise for the advancement of physics and the
control of disease in mankind.
JAMES ORIN MURFIN. A graduate of the College of Literature, Science, and
the Arts in 1895 and of the Law School in 1896, whose name and service will be
remembered as long as the University endures. The experience which he gained as
State Senator, as Circuit Judge, and as a leader of his profession proved of inestimable value to the University during the nineteen years he served as Regent. More
particularly, he devoted himself with unstinted labor to solving many difficult
problems involved in large bequests, and planning the character of the work to be
carried on in accordance with their terms. Memorable, too, are his keen interest in
student welfare and his unyielding insistence on the constitutional independence of
the Board of Regents in government and educational control. Through his knowledge of legal principles, his broad vision, and prudent counsel he has helped to
shape the destinies of this institution and has left upon it the stamp of his
constructive thought.