C. I. Pontius
C. I. Pontius | |
|---|---|
| File:C. I. Pontius Clarence I. Pontius, 1951 | |
| Born | Clarence Isaiah Pontius {{|1892|12|01}} Butler, Butler County, Pennsylvania |
| Died | {{|1956|12|18|1892|12|01}} Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Other names | Clarence I. Pontius, Cy Pontius |
| Occupation(s) | businessman, banker, university president |
| Years active | 1915-1955 |
| Known for | President of University of Tulsa |
Early life
Clarence Isaiah Pontius (1892-1956), more commonly identified as Clarence I. Pontius, C. I. Pontius or Cy Pontius, was born in Butler County, Pennsylvania on December 1, 1892.[a] He then enrolled in Ohio State University, graduating in 1915 with a degree in agriculture, and told his phi delta theta fraternity brothers that he intended to become a farmer.[1]
Career
Businessman in Ohio
Instead of becoming a farmer, Pontius relocated to Warren, Ohio, where he became a businessman who spent the next fifteen years years organizing financial companies. For fourteen years, he was the executive officer of the Trumbull National Farm Loan Association, which was connected with the Federal Land Bank of Louisville, Kentucky (serving Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee. In 1920, while remaining with Trumbull, he organized Valley City Mortgage and Loan Company, and served as treasurer, manager and president until 1930.{{efn|Other ventures that Pontius worked in Ohio included: several joint stock land banks, building and loan companies, and insurance companies [1]
Businessman in Oklahoma
Probably attracted to Oklahoma by the oil boom of the early 1920s,[b] He resigned from his business affiliations and sold his financial holdings in Ohio so he could move to Tulsa in 1930, where he became a very successful investment banker. He first went to work as a special representative for the First National Company, an affiliate of the First National Bank and Trust Company. Later that year, he organized a financial company known as Public Securities Corporation of Tulsa, becoming its president in 1932. During this period, Pontius also became very involved in civic affairs of Tulsa (see section below).<refname = "PDT31"/>
University president in Oklahoma
In mid-1935, a delegation of men representing Tulsa University (TU) came to Pontius' office and expressed their interest in having him consider becoming president of TU. Knowing that such institutions hardly ever chose a businessman to lead a college or university, Pontius replied that he felt very flattered by their interest, but said, "... I can't accept. I am a businessman, a banker, not an educator." The leader of the delegation said, "That is why we want you. We have the men to handle the educational policies of the university. We want a man to handle its business affairs, to be its executive head."Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page without content in them (see the help page). The delegation explained that TU already was facing dire financial straits that threatened its very existence and that someone like Pontius was needed at the helm to put the school on a sound footing. The meeting adjourned when the committee realized that Pontious had not been persuaded to withdraw his rejection. However, after he promised to reflect upon what they had said, all agreed to meet the following week to hear his final decision.<refname = "PDT31"/>
Between the scheduled meetings, Pontius reflected on the challenge the presidency offered to perform a great service for the youth of Tulsa, which he found too exciting to refuse. He quickly notified his colleagues at Public Securities that he wished to resign from the company and accept the TU offer at the scheduled meeting with the Trustees. After formally accepting the TU offer, he wound up his private-sector affairs that same week and reported to his new office on the morning of June 29, 1935, even before anyone on the staff had unlocked the door to the building. Characteristically, he plunged into introducing himself to people already on campus and briefly described his goals and expectations to them.<refname = "PDT31"/>
Pontius served as president until 1958, then became chancellor until 1963.<refname ="ohf"> He not only is credited with saving the school from bankruptcy and putting it on a sound financial basis, but was the longest-serving president in TU's history.<refname = "PDT31"/>
Personal and family life
Pontius married Ruth Elizabeth Birch of Springfield, Ohio in 1922. She was the daughter of T. Bruce Birch, a professor of philos.ophy at Wittenberg College in Springfield. The Pontiuses had two children - daughter Betty Jane and son Clarence Birch.<refname = "PDT31"/>
Civic activities and memberships in Tulsa
Aside from performing his duties as school president, Pontius involved himself in other civic activities. For example, he served on the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, and was on the Board of Directors of the Tulsa-based International Petroleum Exposition. He was appointed to the original Oklahoma State Coordinating Board for Higher Education and the committee which created the Board of Regents for Higher Education. He also was vice president of the Oklahoma Industrial College Foundation and on the board Oklahoma Frontiers of Science.<refname ="ohf"/> A member and trustee of the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Tulsa,[c] he has been chairman of the finance committee of the Official Board. He was a member and chairman of the Tulsa County Council of the Boy Scouts of America and a member and program director of the Tulsa Young Mens' Christian Association (YMCA). Some of Pontius' other public activities included participating in: Knights Templars, Masons (32nd degree), Rotary Club, Shriners, and Tulsa Chamber of Commerce.<refname = "PDT31"/>
Awards and Honors
- Oklahoma Governor’s Award for Outstanding Public Service (1942).
- Tulsa’s Man of the Year (1949).
- Admitted to the Oklahoma Hall of Fame (1951)
Notes
- ^ Little information is available about his childhood. Savage's biography of Pontius named both the town of Butler and the census-designated place of Chicora, Pennsylvania as the location of his birth. Savage also wrote that young Pontius had performed college preparatory work at Northfield Mount Hermon School in Gill, Massachusetts.
- ^ According to Savage, Pontius later told friends that he had always wanted to "go west." He had also admitted that "...he knew no one in Tulsa before he moved there."[1]
- ^ Now known as First United Methodist Church of Tulsa.
References
See also
Additional source
Logsdon, Guy William. The University of Tulsa: A History from 1882 to 1972. 1975. Dissertation for Doctor of Education Degree from the University of Oklahoma. Xerox University Microfilm 76-15,184 PDF.
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