Glen Laird Taggart, who served 11 years as Utah State University's 11th president, died Sunday at a Logan nursing home. He was 83.
"What USU is today is a result of Glen Taggart's talent and leadership," said USU's current president, George Emert. "All of our alumni and all of us mourn his passing.""I learned all that I know about administration from him," said Stanford Cazier, who succeeded Taggart as USU president in 1979. "He was a great person, a great president and was respected internationally."
Taggart came to USU in 1968 from Michigan State University to replace President Darrell Chase.
Cazier said Taggart made important changes at USU.
"One of the great things he did was decentralize programming and budgeting. By that, I mean he let decisions be made at the lowest level possible. This made excellent deans and department heads. It really strengthened the university," Cazier said.
Cazier said Taggart encouraged growth in the natural resources department, agriculture, education and engineering and oversaw development of the Center for Persons With Disabilities.
Cazier said Taggart also helped establish USU as a research university.
Born in Lewiston in 1914, the youngest of eight children, Taggart attended North Cache High School, Utah State University and earned his doctorate in sociology at University of Wisconsin.
He remains a familiar name to USU students today because the university's student center bears his name.
Taggart was one of the architects of the Point Four Legislation and Program of the Truman Administration. He completed 10 years of service with the Department of Agriculture as chief of the technical collaboration division of the Foreign Agricultural Service, helping develop agricultural experiment stations in Central and South America.
In 1964-66, he took a two-year leave of absence to serve as vice chancellor of the new University of Nigeria.
After retiring from USU, Taggart served four years as a member of the Board of Regents of Higher Education.
Taggart is survived by his wife, Phyllis, of Logan; and a son, Edward, also of Logan.
A funeral at Allen-Hall Mortuary was tentatively scheduled for Saturday.