Evening star., 1955-01-17
By Georae kennedy

SSsA1S AAAo 4l4<0 - W WAllCa IVES
the tough period.
It's hard to believe that he
ever was q football player be-
cause he Is only 5 feet 8 inches
tall and weighs 100 pounds.
Yet he played ct that weight In
the backfleld Of three Texas
teams while he was working his
way to q degree on an athletic
scholarship.
At Post Since September.
DR.. Elkins has been on the
job since September, long enough
to encounter most Of its diff
culties. expected and unexpected.
When meeting visitors he sits
behind the big desk in the presi-
dents Office. q walnut -paneled
room as large as those designed
for Cabinet officers. crosses his
legs. leans back and makes HIM
self comfortable as he talks. He
has Q winning candor and q
wide smile that spreads FREE
quently.
While his movements are
quick, he is far from q nervous
type. At As his hair is receding
at the temples and his face Is
somewhat lined. He is as willing
to listen as to talk. Once In o
while a pleasant Texas drawl--
more Western than Southern
becomes evident.
The windows of the Office give
q fine view Of the long stretch
of campus lined with new build
ings, all of them reminders Of
his predecessor DR.. Harry Cliff
ton t''Curley") Byrd, the man
who built Maryland up from a
small college to q large univer-
sity.
Big School: Big Job.
The size Of the institution
alone Is one of the difficulties.
There is the $25 million budget
now being readied for the 1866
school year. There is the matter
Of selling the current session
Of the Legislature on granting
more than $6.5 million In capital
improvement funds for additions
considered necessary to the $40
million plant which includes
the buildings at College Park,
in Baltimore and on the Eastern
Shore. The principal items are
q library building at College
Park to cost about $2.5 million
and q medical library at Balti-
more to cost about 81 million.
There Is the matter Of meeting
as many as he can Of the faculty
which totals 1900. The csta~,
log Of education wares Of
fered is more than 1000 pages,
bigger than Sears Roebuck's
annual. He will never see all Of
the $4,000 students. More than
5000 OF them are taking military
science courses at Air Force and
Army bases in Greenland, Ice
land, Europe and Africa.
AS the head Of o land-grant
college, DR.. Elkins is responsible
for efforts to increase agricultu-
raj yields. to eliminate tobacco
diseases. to improve breeds Of
dairy and beef cattle, to devise
more nutritious feeds for chick
ems grown on the Eastern Shore,
to combat the Japanese beetle
and to encourage beekeeping.
AS everyone wants to hear
from the new president of the
university, he must leave his
institution frequently to address
Maryland All clubs, meetings
Of nurserymen. horticulturists,
the Farm Bureau and the
Grange. And he must leave
the State for meetings such as
q recent one in Nashville, Tenn,
Of tobacco growers concerned
about the decline In sales due
to the cancer scare.
IS Applied for Post.
OF DR.. Elkins it can be said
that the job sought the man.
The first he knew about it was
q telephone call he received
while president Of Texas West
ern q branch Of the University
Of Texas, at 81 Paso. It was
from Federal Judge r. Ewing
Thomason Of the Western Dis
trlct Of Texas. He asked:
What's this about you being
under consideration for president
of the University Of Maryland?"
It seems that after DR.. Byrd
announced his intention to re-.
sign at Maryland. there had
been about rs applications for
the position. The task Of select
ing his successor largely fell to
William p. Cole, jr., chairman
Of the Board Of Regents and an
associate Judge OF the Court Of
Customs and Patent Appeals.
Another Judge on that court was
Eugene Worley, q former MEM
Der Of Congress from Texas.
who had been at the university
when DR.. Elkins was starring on
the gridiron. He suggested Or.
Elkins and wrote Judge Thoma-
son q letter asking II he thought
the educator would be available.
The board sent Q man to Texas
to inquire about DR.. Elkins. The
prospect looked very good.
He was asked TO come to-
Maryland and meet the regents.
which he did. He also met O.
fellow alumnus of Texas UNI
versity, Deputy Secretary Of
Defense Robert B. Anderson.
Mr.. Anderson was familiar
with DR.. Elkins' career Is 81
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