Clifford L. Winters Jr., former vice chancellor, dies

Clifford L. Winters Jr., former vice chancellor, diesJune 14, 2005Edward Byrnesedbyrnes@syr.edu

Clifford L. Winters Jr., 83, of Hilton Head Island, S.C., former vice chancellor of Syracuse University, died Saturday, May 7, at the Hilton Head Regional Medical Center.

Born in Winfield, Kan., Sept. 21, 1921, he graduated from Southwestern College, and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He served with honor in the U.S. Navy during World War II in the Pacific and eastern Atlantic waters.

Winters worked for International Harvester, the Presbyterian Church and Drake University before coming to Syracuse in 1956. He served as dean of University College and became SU’s assistant chancellor for administration in 1970. He was promoted to vice chancellor for administrative operations in 1972. He also held a faculty appointment in the school of education from 1956 until his retirement in 1986.

In Syracuse he served on the boards of Unity Mutual Insurance Co., Syracuse Stage and the former Lincoln Bank, belonged to the Century Club, was a member of the Metropolitan Development Association’s education committee, served as vice president of the University Hill Corp. and was a sponsor for the United Negro College Fund Campaign for Central New York. After his retirement, he was a member of the Sea Pines Country Club in Hilton Head Island.

Winters, over the course of his 13-year tenure as vice chancellor for administrative operations, maintained balanced budgets, oversaw renovations of older campus buildings, the construction of Skytop housing and the Carrier Dome, a revival of SU athletic programs, the development of major computer systems, the gathering of a new, young administrative staff and participation in the development of professional theater and the Syracuse Stage. He was awarded the Chancellor’s Medal for outstanding service to the university by then-SU Chancellor Melvin A. Eggers in 1985.

“He was a remarkably astute administrator whose tireless work on behalf of Syracuse University contributed enormously to its stabilization during the critical years of the 1970s and early ’80s. He was truly the right man at the right time for the work needed just then. The rest of us were the beneficiaries of his many accomplishments for our university,” says Remington Professor of Religion Emeritus Jim Wiggins.

While at University College, Winters handled, among many other things, the development of off-campus centers, foundation grants for women and adult education, Peace Corps training and the Crusade for Opportunity.

“Dr. Winters was a competitor. Few people of my acquaintance regularly completed the crossword puzzle in the New York Times more quickly than Cliff. And I was always glad to have him as my partner in a golf match,” adds Wiggins.

He is survived by his wife, Ann, of Hilton Head Island; four sons, Tobey of West Simsbury, Conn., Charles, of West Hurley, N.Y., Timothy, of Germantown, Md., and Benjamin, of Alexandria, Va.; and five grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, June 18, at 4 p.m. at Crouse College. Former colleagues at SU and friends will present remembrances, and his four sons will make responses for the family. Ann Winters has made the musical selections. Professor Chris Marks will play the organ. Wiggins will officiate at the service.

Friends and other interested parties can sign Winters’ memorial guest book at http://www.legacy.com/Syracuse/LegacyHome.asp