Former Oglethorpe University President Dr. Manning Pattillo died on Sunday, June 2, at 104. He was a highly regarded national figure in higher education.
Pattillo was one of Oglethorpe’s most important presidents, earning the distinction of University Chancellor and President Emeritus from the Oglethorpe Board of Trustees, a press release stated.
Pattillo led the university from 1975-1988. He was instrumental in helping Oglethorpe achieve national recognition and enhancing its academic reputation. The average SAT score of incoming students rose 250 points during his tenure, and credentials and qualifications of faculty were a strategic priority.
Pattillo remained active in higher education and the Oglethorpe campus community after his retirement, according to the press release, including attending 47 Oglethorpe commencement ceremonies from 1976 to 2022.
“Oglethorpe University is the university it is today because of the leadership of Manning Pattillo,” said Dr. Kathryn McClymond, Oglethorpe’s current president. “It warmed my heart to see him at commencement in 2022, my first at Oglethorpe, and I am mindful of his legacy as I seek to lead Oglethorpe to become Atlanta’s premier undergraduate learning experience during this chapter of our important and ongoing story.”
Born in Charlottesville, Va., on Oct. 11, 1919, Pattillo received his bachelor of arts degree from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.
Before his tenure at Oglethorpe, Pattillo was a professor at the University of Chicago for seven years, served as an Associate Secretary of the Commission on Colleges and Universities of the North Central Association, and worked for numerous foundations including the Lilly Endowment, Danforth Foundation and the Foundation Center in New York.
He came to Oglethorpe from the University of Rochester in New York, and he had previously served as chancellor of St. Mary’s College in Maryland.
“Dr. Pattillo held a strong commitment to maintaining Oglethorpe as an undergraduate liberal arts college,” said Oglethorpe University Librarian Eli Arnold. “The Pattillo years would see the establishment of the Freshman Seminar, something only recently resurrected in 2022; a change in Oglethorpe Athletics, making it more competitive and stable compared to its previous years; building improvements, such as Hearst Hall; and other budgetary and accreditation changes.”
Pattillo was married to Martha Aileen Crawford Pattillo for 56 years before she passed away in 2003. He is survived by his daughter, Martha Crawford Pattillo; his younger son, John Landrum Pattillo; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Oglethorpe University through an online contribution or by mail to 4484 Peachtree Road, Atlanta 30319, or to Lenbrook Square Foundation, Inc., for Friends of the Arts Program, 3747 Peachtree Road, Atlanta 30319.
Services will be held on June 15 at Lenbrook-Atlanta, 3747 Peachtree Road, in Atlanta.
