Dr. Fong's Biography
Dr. Bobby Fong became the 20th president of Butler University on
June 1, 2001. The first American-born child of Chinese immigrants,
Fong grew up in Chinatown in Oakland, Calif. His father was a
butcher, and his mother a seamstress in a sweatshop. At the age of
two, Fong's father died, and his mother passed away before he
entered college.
He accepted entrance to Harvard University, supported by
scholarships and Social Security benefits. He also held down
work-study and outside jobs, one of which was a newspaper route to
two Harvard dorms. Because the older design of the dorms didn't
include long hallways, just entryways with rooms off of each entry,
Fong initially spent two hours daily going up and down five flights
of stairs through each of 16 entryways. He soon shaved the delivery
time to 40 minutes. "It was remarkable how it increased my physical
endurance, and wonderful from the standpoint that extra newspapers
were left over for me to read," says Fong, who remains a morning
person partly because of the early years of getting up at 5:30 a.m.
to deliver newspapers.
Following graduation from Harvard in 1973 with an A.B. in
English, magna cum laude, and election to Phi Beta Kappa, Fong
returned to California to earn his doctorate in English literature
from UCLA in 1978. His dissertation research formed the basis for
his lifelong scholarship in the works of Oscar Wilde. He is the
editor of Poems and Poems In Prose, volume one in the Oxford
English Texts edition of the Complete Works of Oscar Wilde,
designated by Choice as one of the outstanding academic books of
2000. He is also the author of essays and monographs on literature,
higher education, religion, and baseball.
Fong began his academic career at Berea College in Kentucky,
where he taught from 1978-89. For his first sabbatical in 1986 he
was accepted as a Fulbright lecturer to China. However, because of
some political machinations going on at the time, the Chinese
government canceled their participation. What initially appeared to
be a setback became a career crossroads when Fong became a National
Fellow and assistant program director for the Association of
American Colleges in Washington, D.C.
It was here he met his late mentor Dr. Frank Wong, provost at
the University of Redlands, who encouraged him to go into higher
education administration. Wong memorably observed, "A professor
controls the climate of teaching and learning in his own classroom;
an administrator can affect the climate of teaching and learning
across a campus."
Inspired by these words, Fong left Berea in 1989 to become
professor of English and dean for arts and humanities at Hope
College in Holland, Mich. He left Hope in 1995 to accept a position
as dean of the faculty and professor of English at Hamilton
College, Clinton, N.Y., from whence he came to Butler.
Fong is married to the former Suzanne Dunham (B.A. Wellesley
'74, M.A. UCLA '78, J.D. Kentucky, '82). An attorney, she taught at
the University of Kentucky law school and edited a mineral law
manual which is now considered a standard reference work. In New
York she served on the local school board. In Indianapolis, in
addition to being the First Lady of Butler University, she serves
on the vestry of Trinity Episcopal Church and teaches at the
Indiana University Law School. They are the parents of two sons:
Jonathan (Connecticut College '06), and Colin (Park-Tudor High
School '08).
Fong serves on the Board of the Council for Higher Education
Accreditation, Council of Presidents Association of Governing
Boards, Board of the Association of American Colleges &
Universities Executive Committee 2007-2009, Board of Directors for
the Indianapolis Indians and the Board of Directors for the
American Council on Education Executive Committee 2007-2009. He
also serves on the Higher Education Cabinet to The Chronicle of
Higher Education and The New York Times.
Fong is also an avid baseball fan and card collector. "The
wonderful thing is that immigrant families never throw away
anything, and I still have my childhood collections, which enabled
me to complete sets of Topps for 1958, 1959, 1961 and 1962," says
the Yankee fan.
In an effort to be accessible to students, faculty and staff,
Fong meets informally with all comers for an hour each week at the
Starbuck's on campus. Fong says, "I want to able to answer
questions or clarify issues of policy by sitting down and talking
with people. I want to be seen as a person willing to be open to
queries." During his four years as president, he has helped restore
fiscal equilibrium to Butler, overseen record fundraising years,
and completed a strategic plan for new curricula and
facilities.
Download print-quality photos of Dr. Bobby
Fong