Born in Pittsburgh, PA and raised in a small town in Indiana (Seymour, IN), Harold Fearon received his BA in Management and his MBA from Indiana University where he became interested in teaching as a career. After his military service, he went to Michigan State University where he received his PhD in Management with a dissertation titled “Purchasing Research in American Business”. His specialty was industrial purchasing.

Harold was invited to come to ASU to be part of the College of Business by a former professor from IU who had moved to ASU. He talks about how he promised to only stay 2 years and has been here close to 30! During his time at ASU he was chair of the Department of Management in the College of Business. He became chair of the Department of Purchasing, Transportation and Operation which he founded to support the increase in interest in the purchasing field. After his retirement, he established a research institute (the first institute located at the ASU Research Park) that was nationally supported called The Center for Advanced Purchasing Studies (CAPS). He also was the founder and first editor of the “Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management” which is still in publication today. In his spare time, he was co-founder of the Rio Salado Bank, a community bank in Tempe, about which he relates many funny events!

Born in Arizona, the son of educators, Lattie F. Coor was the 15th President of ASU. He attended NAU for his undergraduate degree and went on to receive his masters and PhD from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He remained at Washington University as a faculty member, eventually becoming its Vice Chancellor. In 1976, Lattie left to become the 21st President of the University of Vermont. In January of 1990, Lattie returned to Arizona to become the 15th President of ASU, remaining as President until 2002. After his retirement as President of ASU, Lattie stayed as a Professor and Ernest W. McFarland Chair in Leadership and Public Policy in the University's School of Public Affairs. He also co-founded the Center for the Future of Arizona where he continues to serve on the Board of Directors.

In his interview, Lattie recaps his life growing up in Arizona during the war years, providing many stories of his experiences with the various prisoner of war camps located in Arizona. He indicates that originally he thought he would become a lawyer and perhaps enter a political career, but then early on in his post-secondary work, he was greatly influenced by one of his professors at NAU and turned to pursuing a career in academics. From there he unfolds the story of his life as a professor and an academic administrator.

James W. Elmore will always be remembered as the founding dean of the College of Architecture at Arizona State University. Jim’s original intent in coming to Phoenix in 1948 was to work as an architect for Guirey & Jones. Jim came to ASU in 1949 to a non-existent department at then Arizona State College. He nurtured the department into a nationally prominent design school in less than 20 years. Jim was also instrumental in the design and development of the Rio Salado Project. After retirement from ASU, he continued to promote his design for aerial (elevated) transit and a city for Phoenix and greater Phoenix area.

Jim is a native of Nebraska receiving his BA degree in architecture in 1938 from the University of Nebraska. After spending six years with the US Army Corp of Engineers, he went back to school on the GI Bill and received his Masters in Architecture from Columbia University. This interview has Jim telling us about his road to becoming an architect, to becoming a teacher, developing the College of Architecture and his continued community involvement after retirement.