George Matthews Modlin *32

George M. Modlin, distinguished educator, retired fourth president and chancellor emeritus of the U. of Richmond, died Oct. 4, 1998, at his Richmond, Va., home. He was 95.

His 71-year career was devoted to higher education; 60 years of it were devoted to the U. of Richmond. Early in his presidency of that institution E. Claiborne Robins, a major pharmaceutical executive, asked him how much money it would take to make the U. of Richmond "a really great university." George gave a figure of $50 million. Robins and his family donated that sum to the university; subsequent development and growth were phenomenal.

During the Modlin presidency, faculty salaries increased by more than 300%, new building construction reached $24 million, and the university's annual budget increased 17-fold. George's pioneering relations with businesses increased the endowment to $51 million. The student body grew from 2,300 to more than 7,000 in 1971, making the university Virginia's largest private higher education institution.

George earned a bachelor's in history from Wake Forest U. in 1924. He earned a master's in economics from Princeton in 1925 and a doctorate in 1932. In 1928, he married Virginia Pendleton Brinkley. They had no heirs. She predeceased him in July 1997. He is highly revered by those who attended the U. of Richmond during his administration.

The Graduate Alumni