Dixie Junior College Pres. Douglas D. Alder

Following the departure of President Wade, the Board of Regents appointed Dr. Peter Nyberg as interim President of the College.  Dr. Nyberg has been Vice President for Instructional Services since 1976. 

Dr. Douglas D. Alder was announced as the 14th President of Dixie College on August 5, 1986 and formally inaugurated March 13, 1987.       

The major portion of his educational career was spent at Utah State University in Logan, Utah, where he served as a professor of history and for his last 12 years there was director of the University Honors Program. 

Alder grew up in the Salt Lake City area and received his early schooling there.  He graduated from the University of Utah with both BS and MS degrees and in 1966, completed his Ph.D at the University of Oregon.  He did work towards his doctoral dissertation as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. 

Following the completion of his Masters Degree he married Elaine Reiser. They are the parents of four children; one daughter and three sons. He was one of 30 interns in the American Council on Education's Presidential Program at the University of Indiana. 

As the announcement was made of his appointment, Mrs. Sue Marie Young, chairman of the State Board of Regents said,  "Dr. Douglas Alder has a rare combination of abilities and interest.  He is a stimulating teacher, both in the classroom and in more personal settings.  He will give Dixie College the intellectual and educational leadership, which the Regents believe will stir a sense of educational vision for teachers and students and at the same time will interpret the academic world and the larger community, to one another.”

Regent Steven E. Snow declared, "... we charge you to be conscientious in developing Dixie College's assigned role and mission as a full service comprehensive community college.  Academic excellence in the com­munity college includes attention to quality across a broad range of instructional programs, from remedial and developmental education to honors courses, programs in vocational-technical education as well as the general education / transfer curricula, and a variety of community services and continuing education programs." 

As the 1986-87 school year has progressed and several administrative changes have been made, Dixie has begun to take on the reflection of Douglas Alder.  One of his first actions fall quarter was to schedule a one on one interview with every individual on campus in their own setting. Midway toward the completion of that series of appointments, President Alder declared, "l have really learned a lot and it has been a very enjoyable process. People have really been fantastic. I feel that 1 have already made a lot of friends."

During the school year, President Alder and the other members of the administration have been largely occupied with two major budget cuts.

 In his inaugural address, on March 13, 1987, President Alder referred to these budget cuts and time of financial distress when he said, ". . . I refuse to be pessimistic about education in Utah but I have had some very low moments this week as we have looked closely at the huge gaps in the budget for next year.  The legislature failed to fund our fixed costs so we have no funds for fuel and power or many other must expenditures . . . . The result of our present situation is that Dixie College is seriously under funded.  Nonetheless, I refuse to be cynical about the process or the situation.  I find too much in our heritage, especially here in Dixie, to believe that we will not pull through.  I believe that learning is too important to bail out or become despondent."

In 1987 Dixie College celebrate its 75^th year with a Diamond Jubilee Year of activities. The Diamond Jubilee celebrations included opening week activities, Homecoming Week in November, the Inauguration, Dixie Center Dedication and Dixie Secession in March, a tremendous Celebrity Concert series, 1987 Commencement and numerous campus wide programs throughout the year.

As the Diamond Jubilee Year drew to a close, it was good to pause and reflect just what Dixie College means to everyone who has been touched by that almost intangible "Dixie Spirit".

In his remarks at the Presidential Inaugural, Dr. Wm. Rolfe Kerr, Commissioner of Higher Education for the State of Utah, declared: "The rich tradition of this community is laced with love for Dixie College. It is a partnership of long standing, which truly makes this a community college in the richest meaning of that term. Karl Larson, respected teacher, highly regarded author, and one who loved this college as much as anyone, expressed this love, 'I find it difficult to put into words what Dixie College has meant and still means to us here.  It has been and remains the cultural heart of Utah's Dixie. It has meant the broadening of individual and community horizons beyond the power of words to convey. . . . Dixie College has indeed been an oasis in the desert. From its halls have gone forth good citizens, men and women who have had their hearts touched with a desire for knowledge. They have made their mark for good all over the world, in painting, medicine, dentistry and various branches of engineering, in politics and statesmanship and particularly in teaching. . . . sharing with others that which they received in Dixie'."

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