In Memoriam: Alexander “Alex” F. Schilt

Former EWU President Remembered as a Visionary, Student-Success Oriented Leader

Alexander “Alex” F. Schilt, PhD, a nationally prominent higher education administrator who served as Eastern’s 22^nd president, died earlier this month. He was 84 years old.

Schilt was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming in 1941. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Wyoming, and earned master’s and doctoral degrees in educational psychology from Arizona State University in Tempe.

While still a graduate student at Arizona State, Schilt worked as an administrator in a number of student services roles. In 1970, he joined the University of Indiana System, where he used this experience to quickly rise up the ranks to increasingly prominent leadership positions. After 10 years of service, he left Indiana to become chancellor of the University of Houston’s downtown campus. He is remembered there as a visionary, student-success oriented leader who “laid the foundation for its future growth.”

After H. George Frederickson retired as Eastern’s president in early 1987, EWU’s Board of Trustees convened a national search for a successor. Schilt was selected, and assumed the university’s highest office later that year.

“Just looking at Alex, you see energy and enthusiasm for Eastern Washington University,” Mike Ormsby, then chair of the EWU Board of Trustees, told Eastern’s alumni publication. “He has a strong background in student services; he knows how to work with people; and he has worked in both urban and rural areas. With this type of leadership, it’s a very exciting time for Eastern Washington University.”

Early in his term, Schilt gained a degree of notoriety for his decision to forego campus residency and instead move into an EWU Foundation-owned house in Spokane. He thus became the first Eastern president to decline to reside in University House, also known as the President’s House, since completion of its construction in 1929. The house regained its status as home to the university’s leaders in 1998.

After two years of service, Schilt resigned the EWU presidency in September 1989. He returned to the University of Houston, where he served as system chancellor until 1995.

After Schilt’s departure, the Board of Trustees appointed the university’s vice president and provost for academic affairs, Beatrice D. “Del” Felder, to serve as acting president for the remainder of Schilt’s term, which ended on July 31,1990. Felder was the first woman to lead the university.

Note: This story will be updated as more information becomes available.