Tribute: Walter Neustadt Jr. 1919–2010

Abstract

TRIBUTE Walter Neustadt Jr. 1919-2010 Ifirst metWalter Neustadt Jr. on a hot day inAugust 1999. Iwas new in my job as theexecutive director of the World Literature Today organization at theUniversity ofOklaho ma, andmy wife, Julie,and Iwere meeting Walter and Dottie inDallas forour firstdinner with them.During thatdinner, Walter talked about hismother, Doris Neustadt, and how she endowed theNeustadt International Prize forLiterature, an award second only to theNobel Prize in global importance. He talked about the importance ofmaintaining the prize's focus on literary merit and absolute integrity, matters dear to his heart. But then Walter visibly brightened and became even more animated, as ifa lightbulb switched on over his head, and he began to talk about supporting students. He had a long-cherished dream toempower largenumbers of students beyond anything theNeustadt programs at OU had done before. As Iwatched the energetic and steady gaze of this distinguished man, I feltliftedby his passion and empowered by his dream. I rememberedKierkegaard's dictum thatpurity of the heart is towill one thing, and here was a man fully focused on thisone large and encompassing goal. During that dinner I readily signed on tohis cause?who wouldn't??and vowed todirect the Neustadt programs tobe an enginework ingon behalf of largenumbers of students as never before. What Walter and his family had already done for the University ofOklahoma was impressive in theextreme. Wal terSr. and Doris Neustadt gave the land to theUniversity of Oklahoma thatbecame Max Westheimer Airpark, thehome ofOU's aviation program. Doris Neustadt was also the first major private donor to supportOU's library. Walter's own career began with a bachelor's degree ingeology fromYale University and amaster's from OU. When Walter chose toofferhis service toOU as away togive back tohis school and his state,he was soon on theadvisory board fortheUniversity ofOklahoma Press, and he and Dot helped foundOU's Seed Sower Society,which honors donors of $1million ormore. Then, along with his brothers, Jeanand Allan, and theirsister,Joan, Walter made a $2million gift toOU toexpand theBizzell Memorial Library. Walter was also an Endowed Founder of theOU President's Associates Program, and hewent on to serve on theOU Board ofRegents from1969 to 1976, the last two years as chair. For thirty-one years, from 1965 to 1996,he served as a trusteeof the OU Foundation?think about thatforamoment: thirty-one years of volunteer service?and from1976 to 1986 he served as theFoundation's chair. In 1992he received the Governor's Arts Award as one of thestate'smost dedicated supporters of literatureand thearts,and then in May 2005,Walter received a Doctor ofHumane Letters award from theUniversity ofOklahoma, and it was one of theproudest moments ofmy lifeto speak onWalter's behalf forthatoccasion and to stand beside him at the lectern. Ihave discovered that itis impossible toknow someone like Walter Neustadt Jr.and not be affected by his passion forservice and for making theworld a betterplace. Iwas always struck thata very special kind of innocence persisted inWalter's relations with others. I saw this every time we met. He was a savvy businessman, but he had developed thehabit ofbelieving thebest about people until theyproved incontrovertiblyotherwise. His tendency tobelieve inpeople around him so readilymight have seemed na?ve to someone who did not know him, but in reality it was a principled act of courage?a courageous 81World Literature Today "Despite our difficulties inthese trying years, we are well placed in Americaforsuperior methods ofbuilding. A nation with almost inexhaustible native resources, and in our populationa fusedstockofpeople abounding invitality, inventiveness, and skill, we have an old world heritage and stilla new world enthusiasm. It isthe function of educators today to pour this civilizing heritage into this generation, so thatwe may more intelligently explore the sources of nature and mind, and pass on to posterity a truer comprehension of the forces physical, mental, and spiritualwhich combine to balance the individual, the state, the world." ?Walter Neustadt Jr.,"AChallenge to Educators" (1940) willingness toextend credit topeople until doing so ina particular instancewas no longerpossible. Over time,I learned, too, thatthisability tobelieve inpeople was an effectivestrategyfordemanding excellence fromothers as he demanded itfromhimself. At theUniversity ofOklahoma, we will miss Walter's lively intelligence and...