John R. Silber, Who Led Boston University’s Renaissance, Dies at 86 (HT:AI)

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/28/us/john-r-silber-who-led-boston-universitys-renaissance-dies-at-86.html?hp

John R. Silber, Who Led Boston University’s Renaissance, Dies at 86

By ROBERT D. McFADDEN

Published: September 27, 2012

"John R. Silber, who transformed a faltering Boston University into one of the nation’s leading private schools in a volcanic 25-year presidency that promoted innovation, crushed opposition and made him America’s highest-paid educator and one of its most divisive, died on Thursday morning at his home in Brookline, Mass. He was 86.

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A philosopher by training but a fighter by instinct, Dr. Silber believed in old-fashioned hard work and academic excellence. He arrived in Boston when protests against every value he cherished were sweeping campuses across the country. He waded in, and from 1971 to 1996 ruled B.U. with a tigerish ferocity that delighted admirers and enraged critics. There were plenty of both."