John E. Corbally

Corbally was a Presbyterian and the first of that denomination to become chancellor of Syracuse, a historically Methodist university. After his time at the MacArthur Foundation, Corbally retired to his home state of Washington, where he served as a board member for various Seattle-area organizations, including the Rural Development Institute, now known as Landesa. He died on July 23, 2004 from brain cancer, aged 79, at his home in Mill Creek, Washington.

However, John Robert Greene, in a 1998 book on the history of Syracuse, argues that none of that is true: Corbally handled the student protesters and football boycott admirably, despite criticism at the time from some alumni of the school, and he, along with his vice chancellor Ronald Brady, had improved the financial status of the school much in the two years since Corbally took office. According to Greene, the chancellor took the new job "simply because he received a better job offer". Corbally was succeeded by his provost Melvin A. Eggers.

Corbally was elected to the board of directors of the Chicago-based MacArthur Foundation in 1979. He later resigned his position at the University of Illinois to become the first president of the foundation, serving from 1979–89, after which he remained on the board of directors, and as chairman of the board from 1995 to 2002. He is credited with starting the MacArthur Fellows Program, as well as guiding the foundation through its legal troubles of the late 1970s and early 1980s, when J. Roderick MacArthur – son of founder John D. MacArthur – sued several board members over alleged mismanagement of foundation funds.

In 1976–1977, Corbally sought to preserve funding to University of Illinois at a time when Governor Dan Walker was seeking cuts to state university budgets. Continued funding was secured from the state legislature in 1977 by way of a campaign by current and former students of the school organized by Corbally.

In early 1971, Corbally was offered the presidency of the University of Illinois system, which he readily accepted. The board chair called the resignation, "quite unexpected". The suddenness of his resignation at Syracuse led to speculation that he had been pressured to leave due to the tense events of 1970 or that he wanted to jump ship from a school still facing financial difficulties.

During his short time as chancellor, Corbally faced crises spurred on by civil unrest surrounding the Vietnam War and race relations. Tolley, his predecessor, was a proponent of military education on campus; this included the establishment of a Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program. By the time Tolley left office, the university faced major financial issues and there was uncertainty regarding the future of the ROTC program. Corbally advocated for keeping the program and its academic accreditation, an idea which was opposed by students hostile to a military presence on campus, some of whom participated in a sit-in of the ROTC building in February 1970. The matter was referred to the school senate, a democratic body composed of students, faculty, and administrators, which voted to keep the program open, a move which many students felt was forced by the chancellor.

Later that same year, on May 4, the shooting of four students at Kent State protesting against the United States' invasion of Cambodia led directly to the student strike of 1970, a nationwide protest by students on college campuses against US involvement in Vietnam, including at Syracuse. Early protests on campus led to firebombing and window-breaking, but Corbally's decision to cancel classes and allow the students to protest without police or administration interference arguably resulted in more moderate protests than at other colleges.

The peace was short lived, however, as in August 1970, eight black players on the Syracuse Orange football team did not show up for preseason practice, citing systemic racism in the program and discrimination by coach Ben Schwartzwalder. The move was a continuation of a boycott of spring practice by the players, and they were automatically suspended as a result. A university report released in December of that year declared that there was a chronic problem of racism in the Syracuse athletics programs, though in some cases the discrimination was unintentional. In response, Corbally reinstated the players and approved the creation of the Athletic Policy Board to oversee athletics at the school. The board would include input from students and ensure that all students, regardless of race, were entitled to fair treatment.

In 1947, with a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington, he took a job as a high school chemistry teacher in Tacoma. He pursued further education at the University of Washington, graduating with a master's degree in 1950. He earned a doctorate in 1955 from the University of California, Berkeley and put his degree in educational administration and finance to work by taking an associate professor position at Ohio State University, where he would eventually become provost and vice president of academic affairs, positions held until he accepted the chancellor position at Syracuse University in 1969.

After the war, Corbally returned to school, where he met his wife Marguerite Walker; they married in 1946.

John Edward Corbally Jr. (October 14, 1924 – July 23, 2004) was an American academic administrator and university president. Corbally led Syracuse University from 1969–71 before becoming president of the University of Illinois system from 1971 to 1979. He held roles in numerous non-profit organizations, including a decade as the first president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Corbally was born in South Bend, Washington on October 14, 1924 to John E. Corbally Sr., a University of Washington education professor, and Grace (née Williams) Corbally.