REINERT, PAUL C.

Jesuit, educator and university president. b. Boulder, Colorado, Aug. 12, 1910; d. St. Louis, Missouri, July 22, 2001. One of six sons born to Francis and Emma (Voegtle) Reinert, he joined the Society of Jesus in 1927. After receiving an A.B. (1933) and M.A. (1934) from St. Louis University, he served for a time as registrar at St. Mary's College, Kansas. He earned a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago (1944) and that same year was assigned to St. Louis University where he served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (1944–48), vice president (1948–49), and president (1949–74). Reinert was instrumental in obtaining the admission of the first African-American students to the university (and thus the first such students admitted to a historically white university in a former slave state).

Reinert's tenure as president spanned 25 years, a seminal period in the history of the university and of all American higher education. Reinert found himself confronted with the challenges of the postwar flood of students into higher education, curricular innovation and expansion, the overlapping roles of university president and rector of the local Jesuit community, and the admission of women as regular students. In addition, the city of St. Louis faced urban decline during these years, accompanied by "white flight" and continued racial tensions. Reinert committed the university to remain in its urban setting and became a leader of efforts to revitalize the inner city of St. Louis, pairing these endeavors with expansion of the university campus and the creation of programs designed to attract minority students.

In 1967, under Reinert's direction, St. Louis University became the first Catholic university to reorganize its board to include lay trustees, initiating a trend that transformed Catholic higher education. While critics complained that, along with the appointment of lay professionals to high ranking university positions, Reinert was diluting the Jesuit character of the institution, others saw a broadening of the university's vision and a reaffirmation of the original Ignatian educational mission, and pointed to the increased national status of the university and its service to the community.

Reinert served as a consultant to several Catholic educational institutions and on many national commissions on education. He was the recipient of many awards and honorary doctorates. Following his retirement as president he served as the university's Chancellor (1974–1991) and Chancellor Emeritus (1991–2001), remaining an articulate spokesman for Catholic higher education and for social justice.

Reinert's publications include The Urban Catholic University (1970), To Turn the Tide (1972), and Seasons of Change: Reflections on Half a Century at Saint Louis University (with Paul Shore) (1996).

[p. shore]