Jon Whitmore

Jon Whitmore (born March 22, 1945) became C.E.O. of ACT, Inc., the college-entrance exam company, in September 2010. Previously he was president of San Jose State University and Texas Tech University, and provost at the University of Iowa.^[1]

1 Education
2 University career
3 Books authored and edited
4 Notes

Education

Whitmore was born in 1945 in Seattle, WA. He earned BA (1967) and MA (1968) degrees in Speech from Washington State University, and a Ph.D. in Theatre History in 1974 from the University of California, Santa Barbara.^[2]

University career

Whitmore began his career at West Virginia University, rising from assistant to full professor of theatre from 1974 to 1985, and served as interim dean of the college of creative arts in 1984-1985. He moved to the State University of New York at Buffalo to be dean of the faculty of arts and letters and professor of theatre from 1985 to 1990. He served as dean of the college of fine arts and professor of theatre at the University of Texas at Austin from 1990 to 1996. He moved to Iowa City to become provost of the University of Iowa from 1996 to 2003. He was selected to be president of Texas Tech University in 2003, serving for five years. In 2008 he was named president of San Jose State University (SJSU).^[2]

Joining SJSU at a time of fiscal crisis for the state of California, Whitmore faced a difficult period of budget cutbacks. State support was cut 20 percent, forcing the layoff of 76 staff, reductions in part-time faculty and operating expenses, and limiting admissions of qualified students. Despite trimming the academic program, Whitmore was seen as a strong supporter of the SJSU Athletics program, retaining all of the Spartans sports teams. By accepting the top position with ACT, Inc., Whitmore exchanged "a bruising season of protests, layoffs and reduced enrollment at SJSU" for "a lucrative position in a comfortable Midwestern setting, free of the angst facing California's public universities," as an interviewer for the Mercury News wrote. Whitmore returned to Iowa City, where his two children are undergraduates at the University of Iowa.^[1]

Books authored and edited

William Saroyan: A Research and Production Sourcebook (Greenwood Press, 1994). ISBN 978-0313292507
Directing Postmodern Theater: Shaping Signification in Performance (University of Michigan Press, 1994). ISBN 978-0472065578
Editor, Directory of Theatre Programs, 1991 (Association for Communication, 1991). ISBN 978-0929506029
Co-editor, A Handbook for Theatre Department Chairs (1988; Association for Communication, 2001). ISBN 978-0929506005

Notes

^ ^a ^b Lisa M. Krieger (2010-05-13). "SJSU president resigning to lead Midwest testing company". San Jose Mercury News. http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_15078696?nclick_check=1. Retrieved 2010-05-14.
^ ^a ^b "About President Jon Whitmore". San Jose State University. 2008. http://www.sjsu.edu/president/about/. Retrieved 2010-05-14.

Persondata
Name	Whitmore, Jon
Alternative names
Short description	professor, university president
Date of birth	March 22, 1945
Place of birth	Seattle, WA
Date of death
Place of death

Texas Tech University Presidents

Paul W. Horn (1923–1932)
Bradford Knapp (1932–1938)
Clifford B. Jones (1938–1944)
William M. Whyburn (1944–1948)
Dossie M. Wiggins (1948–1952)
Edward N. Jones (1952–1959)
Robert C. Goodwin (1959–1966)
Grover E. Murray (1966–1976)
M. Cecil Mackey (1976–1979)
Lauro Cavazos (1980–1988)
Robert W. Lawless (1989–1996)
Donald R. Haragan (1996–2000)
David J. Schmidly (2000–2002)
Jon Whitmore (2003–2008)
Guy Bailey (2008– )

Jon Whitmore

Contents

Education

University career

Books authored and edited

Notes