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During Homecoming in October 1974 the Morris Campus Library was renamed and formally dedicated as the Rodney A. Briggs Library.
Dr. Briggs was the first Dean and Provost of the University of Minnesota Morris. He was hired in 1959 after earning a bachelor's degree from the University
of Wisconsin and a doctorate in agronomy from Rutgers. His initial responsibility was to serve as Superintendent of the West Central School of Agriculture.
The University of Minnesota had already announced intentions to phase out the West Central School and to innaugurate a new
undergraduate degree program on that site. Briggs would lead the transformation from an agricultural high school serving the needs of rural youth to a
premiere public liberal arts college on the prairie of western Minnesota.
"It was my impression," Briggs said, "that if I were to go to Morris, I could supervise the development of a new collegiate enterprise which
would surely be authorized by the...legislature and at the same time phase out the School of Agriculture."
Already a popular instructor Briggs displayed an entreprenurial management style. He was also a tireless speaker, engaging audiences wherever he could about the new college
on the prairie horizon. Colorful and dynamic, he began wearing a Stetson hat. This would be his trademark. He hired a talented 13-member faculty and introduced
intercollegiate athletics. He even helped to create a community symphony to foster local interest. As the college grew and prospered Briggs always remained accessible to students, knowing
them all by name. The first graduation ceremony was held in 1964.
After leaving UMM in 1969 Rodney Briggs served for two years as Deputy Director and Director of Research at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Ibadan, Nigeria developed
by the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations to improve food production in the Third World. After two years away Briggs and his family returned to Minnesota, where he served as Secretary of the University's Board of Regents and Executive Assistant to the
University President. In 1973, Briggs became President of the struggling Eastern Oregon State College in La Grande, Oregon where he established a
branch of the University of Oregon. In addition, Briggs was Chief Executive Officer of the American Society of Agronomy in Madison, Wisconsin. He retired, due to illness
in 1982. During this time he did genealogy research, refinished furniture and travelled the United States visiting relatives. He passed away in 1995.
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