A Guide to the Peter T. Flawn History of the University of Texas at San Antonio, circa 1995

Historical Note

Dr. Peter Tyrell Flawn was the second president of the University of Texas at San Antonio, serving from 1973 to 1977.

Flawn was born February 17, 1926. He earned an undergraduate degree from Oberlin College in 1947, a master of science degree in geology from Yale University in 1948 and a Ph.D. in geology from Yale in 1951. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He was a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and he was active in numerous other professional and scientific associations.

Flawn joined UTSA after serving 24 years at the University of Texas at Austin, first as a research scientist and geologist in the university's bureau of economic geology, and then as director of the division of Natural Resources and the Environment and university vice president and executive vice president for academic affairs.

Beginning his five-year tenure at UTSA in 1973, Flawn oversaw many milestones at the new university including the first classes held at the Koger Executive Center, receiving the first shipment of 120,000 books for the UTSA Library, presiding over the first commencement ceremony, and being instrumental in the University receiving full accreditation for graduate programs by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Following his tenure at UTSA, Flawn served as acting director of the University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute and acting chairman of the Department of Marine Studies. His presidency of the University of Texas at Austin began in September 1979. He served as president from 1979 to 1985, then as interim president from 1997 to 1998. In 2000, Flawn received the Santa Rita Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Board of Regents of the University of Texas System.

Flawn passed away on May 7, 2017 at the age of 91.

_Sources:

• _{"Flawn: A Legacy of Stability, Integrity, Excellence" [Editor's note preceding Flawn's remarks upon receiving the University of Texas System's Santa Rita Award]. OnCampus: The University of Texas at Austin, 28:1 (25 January 2001). Retrieved from http://www.utexas.edu/opa/pubs/oncampus/01oc_issues/oc010125/oc_flawn.html(Accessed August 3, 2009).}
• _{Jones, Monty. "Former President Peter Flawn Named Interim Leader of U.T. Austin." University of Texas System (18 March 1997). Retrieved from http://www.utsystem.edu/news/1997/PFlawnIntPres3-18-97.htm (Accessed August 3, 2009).}
• _{"UTSA Presidents." UTSA Public Affairs Office (5 January 2007). University of Texas at San Antonio. Retrieved from http://utsa.edu/about/History/UTSAPresidents.html (Accessed August 3, 2009).}
• _{"UT Austin Mourns Death of Former President Peter Flawn." (7 May 2017). University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved from https://news.utexas.edu/2017/05/07/ut-austin-mourns-death-of-former-president-peter-flawn(Accessed January 8, 2018).}

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Scope and Content Note

The collection comprises a manuscript, written by second University of Texas at San Antonio President Peter T. Flawn, entitled The University of Texas at San Antonio: An Account of Its Early Years. The manuscript is 153 pages long and spiral-bound.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

RESTRICTED: This collection is closed for use until January 1, 2020.

This collection is housed at UTSA's Hemisfair Campus, though off-site access is also available at UTSA's John Peace Library.

Use Restrictions

The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

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Related Materials

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Flawn, Peter Tyrell. The University of Texas at San Antonio: An Account of Its Early Years, [page number]. UA 99.0013, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.

Acquisition Information

Received as a gift from Peter T. Flawn in July 2009 (Acc. 2009-046).

Processing Information

Processed and encoded by Angela McClendon Ossar, University Archivist.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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