A. Kenneth Pye

A. Kenneth Pye
9th President of Southern Methodist University
In office 1987–1994
Preceded by	L. Donald Shields
Succeeded by	R. Gerald Turner
Personal details
Born	(1931-08-21)August 21, 1931 New York City, New York
Died	July 11, 1994(1994-07-11) (aged 62) Lake City, Colorado
Education	University of Buffalo (BA) Georgetown University (JD, LLM)

August Kenneth Pye (August 21, 1931 – July 11, 1994) was an American legal scholar who served as the 9th President of Southern Methodist University (1987-1994) and Dean of the Duke University School of Law (1968-1970, 1973-1976).

Early life and education

August Kenneth Pye was born in New York City in 1931. He graduated from the University at Buffalo with a B.A., and later received J.D. and LL.M. degrees from Georgetown University. While a student at Buffalo, he became a member of the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.

Career

Duke University

He served as Dean of Duke Law School from 1968 to 1970 and from 1973 to 1976.

Southern Methodist University

In 1987, Pye accepted the offer to become the 9th President of Southern Methodist University. The university was in disarray in the wake of the football scandal and struggled with a budget deficit, uneven quality in its colleges, and a national reputation for mediocre academics. Pye put together a taskforce, which developed a proposal, Toward the 21st Century: Excellence and Responsibility, that would, among other things, all students have a liberal arts major or minor.

Pye proved capable of standing up to the school's powerful alumni and boosters. He was active on the NCAA Presidents Commission. In 1994, he resigned at SMU for health issues. Pye died of cancer in 1994 in Lake City, Colorado. D Magazine would remember that his death "left a gaping hole" at the university.