Luvern Cunningham

The year was 1969, and Civil Rights protests roiled the country, with advocates demanding change, especially at colleges and universities. As students shouted demands outside the office of the Ohio State University president, the mood turned ugly. Riots broke out, and the university had to be closed.

In the thick of discussions was Vern Cunningham, PhD and dean of the College of Education. Despite being on leave at a prestigious research center in California, he flew home on the red-eye every week.

His purpose: to apply his masterful ability to bring people together to resolve the crisis.

"I presided from the front of St. Stephen's Church (near campus)," Vern said. He had Woody Hayes at his side. "You could hear a pin drop, because they (students) were addressing one another with clarity and conviction that none of the rest of us (faculty, university officials) could produce."

Their concerns centered on increasing enrollment of African American students, the need to hire more diverse faculty, on getting federal grants to support these goals. The conversations were electric. And Vern was radical in his willingness to engage.

It wasn't the first time he helped people resolve conflicting views, and it was far from his last.

Support of well-being through education for all citizens

Vern spent 30 years as a research professor and university administrator, and he didn't stop serving after his official retirement from The Ohio State University in 1989.

"Loved every minute of my education career," he wrote in 1999, on the form requesting biographical information for the Ohio Pioneer in Education Award from the Ohio Department of Education. "Find it impossible to retire from it." He listed his total years associated with education as 50. Since then, the span of his contributions became more like 70 years.

He passed from our view as he lived, calmly and peacefully, on Dec. 6, at home, surrounded by his family.

Born June 28, 1925, to William Myron Cunningham and Matilda Carlson, Vern embraced life on a farm in Nebraska. That background, plus his experiences in World War II, fostered his desire for higher education. He served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, engaging in hand-to-hand combat during the battles of Saipan and Okinawa. He earned two purple hearts and became a master sergeant by age 19.

Vern rose rapidly through the education ranks, starting as a high school teacher/principal, then superintendent at age 23 in rural Nebraska. A master's and a PhD degree later, he became faculty at the University of Chicago, then dean of the College of Education at Ohio State. He left the deanship, but not his professorship, to help integrate urban schools by fostering communications and developing improved administrative governance.

The central tenant of his life's work clustered around issues of equity. His deep and abiding belief in it powered his efforts to provide basic opportunities for well-being through education to all citizens.

Cunningham became adept at bringing together business and educational leaders to advance communities. Over time, the great cities of our nation - Detroit, San Francisco, Columbus, St. Louis and more - called on him to help unravel the challenges of our times.

A prominent role in the Columbus schools desegregation

One outstanding period of his life was serving as Special Master-Commissioner appointed by Judge Robert Duncan, Federal District Court of Southeast Ohio, for the Columbus Public Schools court-ordered desegregation.

Vern also had been appointed the Novice G. Fawcett Chair of Educational Administration at Ohio State, so named for the former superintendent of the Columbus Public Schools and former president of Ohio State. The role brought Cunningham recognition as he and Robert Duncan developed a warm and respectful companionship of like minds. As they pondered the complex questions of the school district, their priority always was to find ways of working with both sides to address humane and practical concerns of the children and adults of the community.

Academic expertise brings benefit to professionals in practice

A talented and prolific writer, Cunningham was the original author of a seminal text on public education in the United States that went into six editions. His lengthy list of additional books, monographs, articles and field study reports has influenced many.

He and his wife, Lila Carol Cunningham, also founded Leadership Development Associates, through which they conducted field studies, leadership preparation and school board development. They consulted about challenging administrative, governance and planning problems in education. They served many clients in this capacity, including the Ohio and Kentucky legislatures on state education reform.

As his work progressed and matured, Vern recognized the urgent need to strengthen the influence of education by bringing together professionals from multiple points of view. He was a powerful disciple of Harold Lasswell, a Yale professor, and created a format for bringing together these parties to address societal problems from all points of view to find the best solution. They included educators, allied medical professionals, lawyers, doctors and nurses, psychologists, social workers, theologians and more.

Vern co-founded the Ohio Commission for Interprofessional Education and Practice, which conducted decision seminars engaging eight critical segments of society, again seeking best solutions. A large grant from the W.W. Kellogg Foundation in 1981 allowed the commission to offer continuing education courses and institutes, conferences and policy analysis sessions.

The commission brought leaders from the professions into continued association and conversation with academics. "We would have the wisdom of practice," Vern said in his oral history. "What you learn every day facing people with sore throats, around the table (with people) who study sore throats. It's enriching in the extreme."

Eventually, 200 other universities had this type of programs over a 10- or 15-year period.

His degrees and awards

Vern's sense of humor and ability to convey to people their value made him a successful moderator and teacher. He earned his BA degree from Midland Lutheran College in Nebraska, an MS from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a Doctor of Education from the University of Oregon.

He received many honors, including induction into the Hall of Fame in the College of Education at Ohio State and the 1999 President's Award for strong school leadership and quality education from the Buckeye Association of School Administrators.

An honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Nebraska at Omaha recognized Vern's service to Omaha Public Schools and beyond. The award says, "A Nebraskan whose career has been distinguished by service as a secondary teacher, principal, superintendent of schools, professor and administrator in higher education, Dr. Cunningham has focused on the special needs of urban schools…. A generation of better educated students attests to his diligence…. His work continues, providing both goals and inspiration, guidance and wisdom, vision and direction."

In 2013, the National Superintendents Roundtable honored Vern as a member of their steering committee, saying, "Vern Cunningham - an educator with a vision that all men and women in a democracy deserve to be treated with dignity - our love and admiration for you rests on your personal integrity … your decency as a human being … and your life as a symbol reminding us all of what Americans at their best stand for." They praised him "for your ideals, your accomplishments and the contributions you have made to American education and American life."

Mourned by his family

Vern is survived by his sons Richard Lee (Susan) Cunningham and Steven Lee (Renee) Cunningham from his first marriage to Georgean Hunteman. He and Lila Carol Cunningham, his wife of the past 43 years, met when she chaired the school board of New Rochelle, New York, and they eventually joined in a consulting partnership. Great mutual affection grew between Vern and her children, which is evident in the loss they feel today. They are Todd Carol (deceased), Elizabeth (Bill) Zemetres, Claudia Carol (Doug Hendron) and Jennifer (Joseph) Koegle. He adored his grandchildren: Lindsay (Jeremy) Arend, Christine (Jay) Laymon, Noelle (Kenneth) Buttacavoli, Erin Cunningham, Cynthia Cunningham, Logan Zemetres, Andrew Schweitzer, Zoe Schweitzer (Stephan Schubert), Emily (Ben) Brockway, Jordan Koegle; as well as his nine great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to the Luvern L. and Lila Carol Cunningham Governance of Educational Studies Fund, #641514, or WOSU fund #312808, both at The Ohio State University Foundation, 1480 W. Lane Ave., Columbus, Ohio 43221. Donations may also be made to the Nicaragua Educational Resource Center , a nonprofit founded by Vern and Lila to inspire rural Nicaraguans through literacy and education, 5824 Clover Dr., Oakland, CA 94618, 510-551-8471.