Richard S. Meyers, PhD
President, Fielding Graduate University
Meyers’ 2009 appointment was the culmination of a competitive international process that relied on the university’s commitment to collaboration, inclusion, and innovative use of technology. Fielding is the fifth institution of higher education that Meyers has led, and he is Fielding’s fifth president, an unparalleled achievement in higher education. Meyers is a multi-faceted and creative educator.
Growing up in Chicago, Dick Meyers played jazz clarinet in high school and as a way to pay for his music degree at De Paul University. He firmly believed that he would become a classical clarinetist. But when he mounted the stage to play his first concert with a major orchestra, he suddenly realized he wanted more out of life. “Everything changed at that moment,” he recalls. He moved to Los Angeles to obtain master’s and doctoral degrees at USC in instructional technology and psychology. Next he traveled to Japan to teach. There he met and married his wife and soulmate, artist and businesswoman, Yakko.
Back in California, Dick began a brilliant ascent within the field of higher education. In 1972 he was appointed founding dean of instruction at the newly opened Cerro Coso Community College in Ridgecrest. Three years later he became president. From 1978 to 1983, he served as superintendent and president at Pasadena City College, at that time the largest urban college of its kind in the country. In 1983 Dick became president of Western Oregon University, Monmouth (WOU), where he also was Professor of Educational Psychology and Music. After overseeing WOU’s turnaround and 11 years of growth, Dick was invited to become president of Webster University, a regional institution in Webster Groves, Missouri, that aspired to become the dominant international university in the world.
“All of these institutions prospered and grew because of my philosophy of teamwork and inclusivity within both the schools and their surrounding communities,” he says. “WOU grew so fast that it became a ‘Public Ivy.’ Webster went from four international campus sites to ten, while student enrollment and campus outreach centers more than doubled to over 108 sites in a distributed system.” During Dick’s 14 years at Webster, he sought to increase diversity and internationalism. He also championed community service as a way to bring staff, faculty, administration, board members, and the community together to work toward common goals. In addition, Webster’s endowment more than quintupled and facilities grew to include state-of-the-art technology, new dorms, apartments, a library, offices, classrooms, and parking.
“In every project and decision I’ve made in my 33-year presidential career, two precepts were mandatory,” Dick says. “First, whenever possible, the ‘team’ would take credit for any success, not me. Second, every decision I ever made was for the benefit of
the students.”
Notwithstanding his commitment to teamwork, Dick has received significant individual recognition for his achievements, including an honorary doctorate from Kansai University in Japan for pioneering international education activities and a special award from the NAACP for championing diversity.
Dick still plays the clarinet, often in hospitals and for residents of nursing homes. He put together a one-hour act that focuses on the music these people had grown up with. “At the end of one performance for a group of Alzheimer’s patients, most of whom appeared to be in a comatose state, a woman approached me to tell me how much she enjoyed the performance, how she knew every song I played, how it reminded her of dancing with her husband in her youth. Later the head nurse approached me and told me that the woman who had spoken to me so enthusiastically had lived in the nursing home for three years and had never previously spoken. Somehow the music had miraculously restored her natural joy and her desire to communicate.” As a result of that experience Dick is committed to keep performing to bring the world of memory back to those who have lost it.
Fielding was fortunate to have attracted such an accomplished educational leader to guide it into the future. Meyers is passionate about the university’s mission and values, and he has ambitious plans to enhance its profile and enlarge its impact in the world.