Dear Colleagues:

It is with immense sadness that I share the passing of Dr. Jack Magruder, President Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, on Sunday, November 17.  A funeral service will be held on Saturday, November 23, at 1:00 pm at the First United Methodist Church in Kirksville, with a graveside service immediately following the funeral.  A public visitation/memorial service will be held on Sunday, November 24, at 2:00 pm in the Georgian Rooms of the Student Union Building.

For more than 50 years, Dr. Magruder lived his passion for and commitment to Truman – first as a student, then as a faculty member and academic administrator, and from 1994–2003, as the University’s thirteenth president.  With the name change to Truman State University in 1996, his guidance was integral in finishing the more than decade-long transformation into Missouri’s only statewide public liberal arts and sciences institution.  Truman’s run of No. 1 rankings began on his watch and continues uninterrupted to this day.  He established our Phi Beta Kappa chapter, and in celebration of a career that had already included 35 years of service, Science Hall was renamed Magruder Hall in his honor in 1999.  Dr. Magruder’s leadership as president of A. T. Still University was indispensable in establishing the Missouri School of Dentistry and Oral Health in Kirksville.

It was my great honor and pleasure to know Dr. Magruder and to share many memorable times with him.  His legacy at Truman and in education public service will be enduring.  We are better for having known him, and we are thankful for his profound impact.

With best regards,
Sue