Olson, James C. 1917–2005
Olson, James C. 1917–2005
(James Clifton Olson)
OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born January 23, 1917, in Bradgate, IA; died August 17, 2005, in Kansas City, MO. College administrator, historian, educator, and author. Olson was president emeritus at the University of Missouri. He completed a B.A. at Morningside College in 1938 and a Ph.D. at the University of Nebraska in 1942, just before America entered World War II. During the war, he served in the U.S. Army Air Forces as an historical officer, attaining the rank of first lieutenant. Afterward, he began his academic career at the University of Nebraska; he became Martin professor of history in 1962, and served as dean and vice-chancellor of graduate studies and research in the late 1960s. Olson then joined the University of Missouri at Kansas City faculty as chancellor from 1968 to 1976. That year, he was selected as interim president of the University of Missouri system, and he became president the next year, ultimately retiring from the post in 1984. In addition to his academic career, Olson was active in his local community, serving on the chamber of commerce, as president of the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City, on a variety of company boards, and as cofounder of the Business-Higher Education Forum. For such accomplishments, he was presented with the Centurion leadership award. As an historian, Olson was active in such groups as the Organization of American Historians. He was a former president of the American Association for State and Local History and he was editor of Nebraska History from 1946 to 1956. In addition, Olson was the author or coauthor of several books, including History of Nebraska (1955; 3rd edition, 1997), Red Cloud and the Sioux Problem (1965), and Stuart Symington: A Life (2003).
OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:
PERIODICALS
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 24, 2005, p. B4.
ONLINE
Columbia Daily Tribune Online, http://www.showmenews.com/ (August 20, 2005).
University of Missouri News Releases Web site, http://www.umsystem.edu/news/releases/ (August 18, 2005).