Bio: Thomas K. Hearn Jr., 1937-2008

Dr. Thomas K. Hearn Jr. served as president of Wake Forest from 1983 until 2005. He oversaw the development of Wake Forest from a small, regional liberal arts Southern Baptist college into one of the nation’s premier independent universities. His 22-year tenure matched that of William Louis Poteat (1905-27) as the longest-serving president in Wake Forest history.

After retiring on June 30, 2005, Dr. Hearn and his wife, Laura, continued to live in Winston-Salem. Following his retirement, the University’s trustees renamed University Plaza (the Quad), Hearn Plaza in honor of his outstanding service. In 2006, he received the University’s highest award for service, the Medallion of Merit. Also in 2006, he received the North Carolina Award for public service, the highest honor given by the state of North Carolina.

An active leader in community organizations and higher education throughout his presidency, he was involved in a number of civic activities and higher education initiatives. He was a past chairman and member of the board of governors for the Center for Creative Leadership, a nonprofit education institution in Greensboro, North Carolina. An early advocate of intercollegiate athletic reform, he served on the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics since 1989 and served as chairman of the commission from 2005 to 2007.

Dr. Hearn’s commitment to community service began early in his tenure when he helped found and served as the first chair of Leadership Winston-Salem and Winston-Salem Business, Inc. He served as chair of the Winston-Salem Forsyth County United Way in 1985-86.

He also served as chair of the North Carolina Transit 2001 Commission and the Piedmont Triad Development Corporation. He is past chair of Idealliance, a local economic development group developing a research park in downtown Winston-Salem, to be anchored by a new campus for the medical school. In 2005, he was honored by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society at its Winston-Salem Dinner of Champions. In 2007, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the Wake Forest Medical Alumni Association.

A native of Alabama, Dr. Hearn graduated summa cum laude from Birmingham-Southern College and earned a divinity degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Vanderbilt University. After teaching philosophy at the College of William and Mary for ten years, he returned to his home state in 1974 to start the philosophy department at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. He was later named dean of the School of Humanities, vice president, and in 1982, senior vice president for non-medical affairs.

Dr. Hearn was named Wake Forest’s twelfth president on June 23, 1983, and he assumed office on October 1. His inauguration was held on November 4 in Wait Chapel. In his early years in office, he negotiated a new relationship with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina to secure the University’s governing independence. During the late 1980s, he initiated the largest building program on the Reynolda Campus since the campus was built to solve a critical shortage of academic and student activity space.

Dr. Hearn’s efforts to raise the University’s national profile were recognized in 1994 when U.S. News & World Report shifted Wake Forest into the national universities category in its annual college guide. Wake Forest has ranked among the top thirty universities in the country every year since then. Two Presidential Debates, in 1988 and 2000, also brought national attention to the University.

Dr. Hearn held honorary degrees from the University of Alabama, Tokai University in Japan, and the University of Vienna. He was married to the former Laura Walter and is survived by three children, three stepchildren, and nine grandchildren.