Joab L. Thomas was born in
Holt, Alabama in 1933. He was educated at Harvard University (B.
A. in 1955 and M.S. in 1957), and earned his Ph.D. from that institution
in 1959. He stayed at Harvard as a teaching fellow and researcher
at the Arnold Arboretum until 1961.
He returned to Alabama to
teach biology at the University of Alabama (1961), then became
Assistant Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences (1964), Dean
for Student Development (1969), and Vice President for Student
Affairs (1974) at that institution.
He was the Chancellor of North
Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina from 1975
to 1981. He became President of the University of Alabma in 1981,
then served as the President of Pennsylvania State University
from 1990 to 1995.
He was inducted into the Alabama
Academy of Honor in 1983. He married Marly Dukes of Boise, Idaho
on December 22, 1954, and they have four children: Catherine,
David, Jennifer. and Frances.
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Found on
a weblog, posted by Chris W. on 8/12/2005 concerning University
of Alabama football:
In the dark, winless years following the death of Paul Bryant
[football coach at the University of Alabama, 1958-1982] there
was talk of bringing back The Bear [Paul Bryant's nickname] to
restore the team to its legendary greatness. The theory was that
if a vegetable could govern the state [Gov. George Wallace], it
should be no problem for a dead man to coach a football team.
When I arrived for the first semester of graduate school in T-town
[Tuscaloosa, Alabama], I was invited by my parents to dinner with
a friend of theirs at the Indian River Country Club. I told that
joke. Unbeknownst to me, this prominant attorney "friend"
as the County Chairman for the re-election of George Corley Wallace.
The president of the Univesity of Alabama during those dark days
was notne other than Joab Thomas. A man who cared more for the
academics of Alabama than he did for football, the onerous task
of replacing The Bear came during his tenure. Those of you who
follow football know what an impossibility that would be. Ray
Perkins got the call and Dr. Thomas caught the flack. Ultimately
Joab Thomas left Alabama for Penn State. His niece told me the
one thing he really worried about was Joe Paterno [football coach
1966-2006 (current), Pennsylvania State University] dying. No
one man should ever bear the responsibility of having to replace
argueably the two greatest coaches in the history of NCAA.
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SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Whit Gibbons, Robert Haynes, and Joab L. Thomas (1990) Poisonous
plants and venomous animals of Alabama and adjoining states. University
of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Blanche E. Dean, Amy Mason,
and Joab L. Thomas (1973) Wild flowers of Alabama and adjoining
states. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Joab L. Thomas (1959) The
Cyrillaceae. Ph.D. Thesis, Biology Department, Harvard University,
Cambridge, Massachusetts.
