Hugh O. La Bounty Papers, circa 1925-2019, undated

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Summary

Creators:
La Bounty, Hugh O.
Abstract:
Hugh O. La Bounty served as president of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona from 1978 to 1991 and previously was a faculty member and administrator at the university. The collection contains correspondence, photographs, clippings, speeches, reports, publications, La Bounty's thesis and dissertation, and audiovisual materials.
Extent:
18.3 Linear Feet (26 boxes, 6 flat file folders)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Box/folder# or item name], Hugh O. La Bounty Papers, Collection no. 0086, University Archives, Special Collections and Archives, University Library, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection contains correspondence, photographs, speeches and speech drafts, clippings, publications, La Bounty's thesis and dissertation, reports, and audiovisual materials related to former Cal Poly Pomona President Hugh La Bounty and his tenure with the university.

Biographical / historical:

Hugh Orvice La Bounty, Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 22, 1927. His family eventually moved to Southern California and he grew up in Long Beach. After graduating from high school, La Bounty served in the Navy during World War II before attending college. He attended Humboldt State College (later known as Humboldt State University) for a year and then transferred to the University of Redlands. In 1950, he earned a bachelor's degree in history and, two years later, earned a master's degree in the same discipline from the University of Redlands. After La Bounty earned his undergraduate degree, he was hired for his first teaching position at Citrus High School and Junior College in Azusa, California.

Several years later, in 1953, La Bounty began his long tenure at Cal Poly Pomona when he was hired as chairman of the English department of the Voorhis Unit campus. At the time, the college was under the umbrella of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and had a southern campus in San Dimas. La Bounty served as chairman for two years, before he moved into a new position: Building Planning Assistant for the Kellogg-Voorhis Campus. This was an important time in the development of Cal Poly Pomona. In 1955, the southern unit of Cal Poly moved all of its instruction to the new Kellogg campus in Pomona. Students would continue living at the Voorhis Unit and commute to the Kellogg campus for classes. The southern unit at that time was known as the Kellogg-Voorhis campus.

When the new Pomona campus opened in September of 1955, there was only one academic building: the Science Building (now building #3, the Science Laboratoy). La Bounty, as building planning assistant and later building coordinator, played an important role in the early development of the campus. One of his duties was to serve as a liasion between the Kellogg-Voorhis Unit and the state Department of Architecture.

In 1957, La Bounty co-wrote a high school history textbook with his colleague at Cal Poly Kellogg-Voorhis, history professor Don Pflueger. The Government of California was used in many schools across California, including at the southern Cal Poly campus. La Bounty and Pflueger also contributed a chapter on California government to the California edition of the textbook Building Citizenship.

Between 1954 and 1961, La Bounty also taught part-time at other schools, including the Los Angeles County Probation Department Special Schools and at Citrus Junior College. Additionally, La Bounty was also working on a Doctor of Education from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). In 1960, La Bounty completed and submitted his dissertation on Edwin Augustus Lee, a UCLA professor who had also served as dean of UCLA's School of Education. La Bounty graduated on June 10, 1961. He later returned to the campus as a visiting scholar for the 1961-1962 school year.

In 1962, La Bounty was promoted to the position of executive dean of Planning and Development. He was responsible for overseeing the building programs on the Kellogg and Voorhis campuses. He also continued to teach in the Social Sciences department during this period. In 1966, Chester O. McCorkle announced his resignation as dean of the college for the Kellogg-Voorhis campuses. La Bounty applied for the position and was named acting dean. In December of 1966, La Bounty was appointed to the position on a permanent basis. That same year, the southern campuses separated from San Luis Obispo to become the newest college in the California State system: California Polytechnic State University, Pomona. Six years later, the college was granted university status.

La Bounty served as dean of the college for a year before moving into the role of Vice President of Academic Affairs, a position he would hold until 1975. In 1977, La Bounty was appointed to the role of acting president when Robert Kramer announced his retirement. In 1978, the California State University system appointed Hugh La Bounty as Cal Poly Pomona president. La Bounty was inaugurated in the University Gymnasium on October 31, 1978. La Bounty's inaugural address was titled "Broadening Horizons." The event also coincided with the dedication of the new addition to the Kellogg West conference center.

During La Bounty's tenure, he would often travel on behalf of the university or to advance higher education. In 1969, La Bounty served as a consultant to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Tanzanian National Ministry of Education on the development of the Dar es Salaam Technical College in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. In late 1971, La Bounty served as the consultant and project field coordinator for the KATE project in Greece (KATE is an acroynm for the Greek words for Higher Technical Education Centers). The project involved the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Ministry of Education and Religion in Greece. More than 20 other faculty members from Cal Poly Pomona were also involved. The result was the development of five technical colleges in that country that offered programs in agriculture, engineering, and other areas.

In 1979, La Bounty would continue his international travels when he served as a consultant on higher education in the United Arab Emirates. In 1982, La Bounty traveled to South Korea, where he delivered a presentation titled "World Hunger - Everyone's Concern." Other countries La Bounty visited during his presidency include Brazil, China, and Yemen Arab Republic. These trips would sometimes result in agreements to assist in producing polytechnic universities in other countries and to exchange scientific research.

Back on the Cal Poly Pomona campus, La Bounty oversaw an expanding university. During his tenure there would be groundbreakings and dedications for a new University Office Building, an International Center, a University Village, the University Bookstore, and the University Art Gallery. In 1980, the university also dedicated an Equine Research Center. Hugh La Bounty personally was very interested in the history of the Arabian horse. He used a sabbatical leave in 1987 to develop a better understanding of the horse breed by visiting Arabian horse breeding programs in several European countries, Morocco, and Israel. Two Arabian horses bred at Cal Poly Pomona's W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center were named after La Bounty, the mare Bountyful Queen (foaled 1980) and her colt Lord Hugh (foaled 1986).

As part of the effort to expand the university's education and research facilities, La Bounty led a capital campaign in 1988 called "Partners in Progress." The campaign coincided with the university's 50th anniversary. The "partners" in the program were members of the private sector, including Carl's Jr. founder Carl Karcher and James A. Collins of Collins Food International. The campaign would fund the Classroom, Laboratory, and Administration (CLA) building, which opened in 1993; the Center for Regenerative Studies, which opened in 1994; and the Collins College of Hospitality Management building, which originally opened in 1990 and was later named in honor of James Collins.

The Cal Poly Pomona baseball and women's basketball programs both saw success during La Bounty's tenure. The women's basketball program, led by coach Darlene May, won NCAA National Championships at the Division II level in 1982, 1985, and 1986. The men's baseball team, led by coach John Scolinos, also won multiple NCAA Division II national championships in 1980 and 1983. However, things did not go as well for Cal Poly Pomona's football team. In 1982, La Bounty made the decision to discontinue the program, citing funding issues, the team's lack of success, and the decision by the football coach and former Los Angeles Rams quarterback Roman Gabriel to leave the program.

The La Bounty presidency was a time when many dignitaries visited the campus. In 1983, the university established a Legislator-in-Residence program and a Trustee-in-Residence program. These programs brought members of Congress, the California Legislature, and California State University trustees to Cal Poly Pomona. In 1986, the university also hosted its first Artist-in-Residence: Raymond Burr. The former actor from the Perry Mason television series was a friend of La Bounty's and was very involved in the events of the campus, serving as commencement speaker twice in 1982 and 1991. Burr also served as a co-chair of the "Partners in Progress" capital campaign.

La Bounty also saw national recognition during his career. In July of 1986, President Ronald Reagan appointed La Bounty to a three-year term on the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development.

Along with his administrative duties, La Bounty also found a way to incorporate his teaching experience. To coincide with Cal Poly Pomona's 50th anniversary in 1988, La Bounty served as the instructor for a "History of Cal Poly" class.

After 13 years overseeing the development of Cal Poly Pomona, La Bounty announced in 1990 that he planned to retire the next year. A retirement dinner was held in his honor on May 18, 1991.

Following retirement, La Bounty moved to Oceanside, California with his wife, Judy. Hugh and Judy married in 1987 after his first wife, Gwen, passed away in 1985. Hugh and Gwen La Bounty had been married for 35 years and had five children.

La Bounty continued to stay involved in higher education and kept up his fundraising skills and his Kellogg connections. He served as an unpaid adviser to the first president of Cal State San Marcos, Bill Stacy, and helped the school raise money for the university's library, the Kellogg Library. The library was named after Keith Kellogg II, the grandson of the cereal company founder.

La Bounty also served as president of the El Corazon Planning Committee. El Corazon is the name of the site of a former sand mine in Oceanside that was turned into parkland.

Hugh La Bounty passed away on November 7, 2018 of natural causes. He was 91 years old.

Acquisition information:
The materials in the collection were donated to California State Polytechnic University, Pomona by Hugh O. and Judy La Bounty in 2018, transferred by Instructional Technology and Academic Computing in 1998 and 2002, and gathered from University Archives files.
Processing information:

The processing of this collection and the creation of this finding aid was funded by the generous support of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

The collection was processed by Rob Strauss, Elainna-Marie Herrera. Neelam Patel, and Alex Dan in February 2019. In 2024, the collection was shifted by student assistant Stacy Marines under the supervision of Rob Strauss and the finding aid was updated.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized into the following series: Series 1. Correspondence and Memoranda; Series 2. Subject Files; Series 3. Speeches; Series 4. Travels; Series 5. Photographs; Series 6. Personal; Series 7. Printed Materials and Publications; Series 8: Audiovisual Materials; and Series 9: Plaques and Realia.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Advance notice required for access. Restricted materials have been omitted from the finding aid and will be accessible 75 years from date of creation.

Terms of access:

Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.

Preferred citation:

[Box/folder# or item name], Hugh O. La Bounty Papers, Collection no. 0086, University Archives, Special Collections and Archives, University Library, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Location of this collection:
3801 West Temple Ave.
Pomona, CA 91768, US
Contact:
(909) 869-3775
speccollections@cpp.edu
Website