AMHERST — The University of Massachusetts Fine Arts Center will be named for the late Randolph W. “Bill” Bromery, a former chancellor who oversaw the construction of his new namesake in the 1970s and was the first African-American to helm the university’s flagship campus.
Following a unanimous vote Wednesday by the UMass board of trustees, the university issued a statement Friday honoring the former chancellor, who served from 1971-79 and died in 2013 at the age of 87, for his “transformative role in creating today’s vibrant and diverse public research university.”
Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy, who recommended the honor to trustees, noted that the school was looking to acknowledge Bromery for his contributions as the university reflects on the campus’s “history working in support of social justice and inclusion,” and looks toward this year’s 50th anniversary of its department of African-American studies.
“Naming the Fine Arts Center after Chancellor Bromery will enable us to celebrate his contributions to this campus while also extending his memory beyond our walls and into the larger Amherst community and arts community at large through the reach of the Fine Arts Center and its popular performances,” Subbaswamy said in the statement.
Bromery first came to UMass as a professor of geology in 1967 and held titles such as department chair and vice chancellor for student affairs before becoming chancellor. His appointment made him the second African-American ever to lead a predominantly white campus, according to the statement. Bromery had also served as a Tuskegee Airman during World War II and designed instruments for aeromagnetic surveying while working at the U.S. Geological Survey.
As a “dedicated saxophonist and a lifelong student of jazz,” Bromery helped to recruit jazz legends such as Max Roach, Archie Shepp and Fred Tillis, theu Fine Arts Center’s first director, to the school’s faculty, according to the statement. Bromery listed meeting the pianist Eubie Blake at UMass as one of his “most treasured moments as chancellor,” the statement said. The Fine Arts Center, which is a performance and visual arts space at the university, was founded in 1975.
While Bromery was chancellor, the ratio of undergraduate men to women improved to 50-50, efforts were intensified to recruit and support minority students, and the number of faculty of color increased, the statement said. Bromery also helped establish the Committee for the Collegiate Education of Black Students (CCEBS).
“We are honored that the Fine Arts Center building will be named after such a visionary leader as Chancellor Bromery,” said Jamilla Deria, director of the Fine Arts Center in the statement. “As he was so instrumental in diversifying the UMass Amherst campus, it seems fitting that a building that houses so many creative endeavors by our diverse community of students, faculty and professionals alike should bear his name and continue this legacy.”
Bromery also brought to the campus the archives of both W.E.B. DuBois, after whom the UMass library is named, and Horace Mann Bond, which the statement said “cemented the library’s reputation as a top repository for African-American thought and served as the foundation for the establishment of what is now the W.E.B. Du Bois Center.”
Subbaswamy said of Bromery, “His impact on higher education extends beyond our campus and his resume highlights his dedication to both the state and, chiefly, public higher education.”
In addition to his roles at UMass, Bromery also served as chancellor of the state Board of Regents for Higher Education, interim president of Westfield State College, president of Springfield College and president of Roxbury Community College.
Bromery was also appointed by President George W. Bush to the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science, was awarded nine honorary degrees and was regularly appointed to boards of corporations and places of higher education, the statement said.