Former Kansas chancellor Gene Budig dies at age 81. He led a long, fascinating career
.JPG "Gene Budig, right, whose career included stints as president of baseball’s American League and chancellor at KU, talks with Royals vice president George Brett before a spring training game in 1996 in Florida. Budig died Tuesday.")
Former University of Kansas Chancellor and Major League baseball American League President Gene Budig has died at the age of 81.
Budig died Tuesday, according to a news release from the Charleston (South Carolina) RiverDogs, of which he had been part-owner since January of 2007.
He is survived by his wife Gretchen, his sister, brother, his three children and his five grandchildren, the team announced.
Budig was named the president of baseball’s American League in 1994. He served for six seasons and actually was the last president in league history.
The McCook, Nebraska native served 13 years as KU chancellor from 1981-94. He also was president of Illinois State University (1973-77) and president of West Virginia University (1977-81).
Budig retired in 1992 from the Air National Guard at the rank of major general. Budig Hall at KU is named in his honor.
In recent years, Budig also chaired the advisory committee for the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium.
On March 20, 1981, Budig was named the 14th chancellor of the University of Kansas by the Kansas State Board of Regents. According to kuhistory,ku.edu, he said that day he aimed “to help a great public university become greater.”
Board chair E. Bernard Franklin at the time said Budig “has a distinguished record of service to higher education and we are fully convinced that he will provide excellent academic and administrative leadership.”
He took office Aug. 1, 1981, succeeding Archie Dykes, who resigned a year earlier.
Budig, who was 42 when named chancellor of KU, toured the state’s 105 counties during his first year on the job to visit with alumni from the state.
“After an extensive tour of the state,” Budig said in an interview with Kansas Alumni Magazine as reported by ku.edu, “I returned convinced that the people are receptive to ideas and reasoned presentation. Without question, they believe in our state universities; without question, they respect the role of higher education. Furthermore, they look to the University of Kansas for leadership.”
According to ku.edu, “among Budig’s goals as chancellor were to attract and retain the nation’s best educators, expand the University’s libraries and physical plant, improve services and increase efficiency at the Medical Center, and, naturally, to loosen the purse-strings of the State Legislature.”
Budig at KU was responsible for the building of the Dole Human Development Center, the Adams Alumni Center, the KU Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Anschutz Science Library, the Lied Center for the Performing Arts, and the Regents Center in Overland Park. KU enrollment reached an all-time high of 29,161 in 1992.
He also helped secure an $18 million grant from the state to rebuild Hoch Auditorium, which burned in 1991 following a lightning strike. It was dedicated as Budig Hall in 1997.
In sports, Budig hired athletic director Monte Johnson in 1982. Johnson was AD when Larry Brown was hired as head basketball coach. After Johnson resigned the position, Budig hired Bob Frederick as athletic director. Frederick was the man who brought Roy Williams to KU.
Budig, known as a champion of diversity hiring, hired Camden, S.C., native Larry Doby to his American League staff. Doby became the first Black player in the American League when he joined Bill Veeck’s Cleveland Indians in 1947 and, along with Veeck, is in baseball’s Hall of Fame.
“Gene is the unsung hero in the Larry Doby saga,” minor league baseball owner Mike Veeck said as reported by postandcourier.com. “He brought Larry back into baseball with that job in the American League office. That gave Larry the exposure he so richly deserved. Gene, with all his academic accomplishments, understood the heart of the underdog.”
Budig, postandcourier,com stated, wrote several books, including “Clearing the Bases,” “Grasping the Ring” and “Grasping the Ring II” – about sports personalities such as Gene Autry, Bob Gibson, Rachel Robinson and Cal Ripken Jr.
This story was originally published September 8, 2020 at 10:37 AM.
