July 14, 2000
NORTH HALL RENAMED IN HONOR OF FOUNDING BOARD MEMBER JAMES A. HUGHES
Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu
The State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors has voted to rename North Hall on the campus of the Dixon University Center in honor of the late James A. Hughes, a founding member of the Board and a long-time trustee at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Hughes served on the Board of Governors from its creation until 1996. He passed away on July 9, 1997.
Board Chairman Emeritus F. Eugene Dixon Jr., also a founding Board member, called Hughes “an outstanding Board member and a good friend.” Mr. Dixon recently resigned from the Board after 17 years as its chairman.
Mr. Hughes was a respected Philadelphia businessman, whose broad background and experience in the areas of planning and financial management helped lay much of the groundwork for the fiscal strength the System enjoys today. He was a member of the
Board’s original Finance and Administration Committee. Bringing the concept of consolidated university operations to fruition was among his significant accomplishments. The process allows the universities to share costs of programs that benefit all of the institutions.
Mr. Hughes was committed to the System’s mission of providing high quality programs at an affordable cost. He maintained a constant concern and was vigilant regarding the State System’s responsibility to provide opportunity, access and equity for all Pennsylvanians.
Mr. Hughes’ son, state Sen. Vincent Hughes, holds an annual golf tournament in honor of his father to raise funds for scholarships available to students from Philadelphia who attend any of the 14 State System universities.
Sen. Hughes thanked the Board for honoring his late father with the building renaming, noting how much the State System meant to him.
“Mr. Hughes made tremendous contributions to the State System. This lasting tribute is a truly deserved honor,” said Chancellor James H. McCormick.
The newly designated James A. Hughes Hall houses the System’s consolidated university operations as well as other administrative functions.
The State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth. Its 14 universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. Nearly 350,000 System alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.
The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The System also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and the University Center for Southwest Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh.