Dr. Robert Foster, former president, dies at 90

foster medium

Dr. Robert P. Foster

Dr. Robert P. Foster, seventh president of Northwest Missouri State University, died early Monday, March 10, at his home in Kansas City. He was 90.

Services will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 15, at the First United Methodist Church of Maryville, Northwest President Dean L. Hubbard officiating. A reception will follow from 2-4 p.m. in the First Ladies Dining Room on the third floor of the J.W. Jones Student Union. This is a change from the original plan to hold the reception at the Alumni House.

Arrangements are in care of Price Funeral Home (www.pricefuneralhomemaryville.com).

In honor of Foster’s memory, Dr. Hubbard has ordered that flags on campus be flown at half-staff.

Foster served as University president from 1964 until his retirement in 1977, when he was named president emeritus. On March 23, 1943, he married Virginia Mutz Foster, who survives of the home. The couple lived in Maryville following Dr. Foster’s retirement until moving to Kansas City about two years ago.

Other survivors include two sons, Robert P. Foster III, Geneva, Switzerland, and Douglas Kemp Foster, Dallas, Texas; two daughters-in-law, Dori Wielandt Foster, Geneva, Switzerland, and Lisa Tresnicky Foster, Dallas; and five grandchildren.

Born May 24, 1917, in Warrensburg, Foster was the son of Robert Porter Foster and Oda Magnolia Long Foster, who preceded him in death. Also preceding him in death were his brother, Augustus L. Foster, and sister, Lucille Foster.

Foster attended public schools in Warrensburg and what is now the University of Central Missouri, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1939. He was a teacher, coach and high school principal at Carrollton (Mo.) High School from 1939 until 1942.

At the beginning of World War II, Foster was also working on a master’s degree at the University of Missouri-Columbia but left to join the U.S. Navy. He served from Dec. 1941 until Oct. 1945 in the North Atlantic and Caribbean theaters of operation, rising to the rank of lieutenant commander. As a civilian he remained active in the American Legion, eventually becoming state commander and a member of the organization’s national Foreign Relations Committee.

After the war, the Fosters moved to Maryville, where they purchased the E.L Townsend Grocery Co., which Foster operated until 1948, when he was named registrar and director of admissions at Northwest. He resumed his studies at MU and completed his master’s degree in education in 1951.

Dr. Foster served as registrar at Northwest from 1948-1959 and received his doctorate in education from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1960. He was Northwest’s dean of administration from 1959 until his appointment as president in 1964.

During his years as president, Foster led efforts to expand the campus by acquiring land and building new facilities. He was instrumental in securing nearly $15 million for capital improvements and in the creation of the Northwest Foundation, which has since raised tens of millions of dollars in support of the institution and its students.

Construction projects completed during Foster’s administration included the Garrett-Strong Science Building; the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building; four high-rise residence halls; a major expansion of the J.W. Jones Student Union; and the Donald N. Valk Building, which currently houses the Department of Agriculture.

Renovations to Colden Hall, Martindale Hall and the Administration Building were also completed during Dr. Foster’s tenure as president, along with construction of the first Foundation-funded structure, the Memorial Bell Tower.

New facilities, expanded academic programs and a growing student population led to an institutional name change in 1972 from Northwest Missouri State College to Northwest Missouri University.

One of Foster’s most significant achievements at Northwest was his leading role in securing funding for the establishment of KXCV/KRNW radio, the University’s 100,000-watt public radio station.

Throughout his University career, Foster was noted for his close relationships with students, for whom his office door was always open. As a former college athlete and high school coach, he strove to make the University a place where young people had the opportunity to develop academically, socially and athletically. In 1981, the University’s Robert P. Foster Aquatic Center was named in his honor.

Foster served on the board of curators for Central Methodist College in Fayetteville and Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He was a member of the Maryville United Methodist Church, Lions International, the Maryville Chamber of Commerce, the Bearcat Booster Club, the Masons and the Maryville Industrial Development Corp.

Active for many years in Boy Scouting, Foster was a chieftain in the Tribe of Mic-O-Say and a recipient of the Silver Antelope Award, one of Scouting’s highest honors for longstanding service to youth.

The family requests that memorial donations be made to either:

The Northwest Foundation Robert P. Foster Scholarship Fund, 800 University Drive, Maryville, MO, 64468.
The Boy Scouts of America, Pony Express Council, P.O. Box 8157, St. Joseph, MO, 64508.

For more information, please contact:

Anthony Brown,
News Bureau Manager
E-Mail: abrown@nwmissouri.edu
Phone: 660.562.1704
Fax: 660.562.1900

Northwest Missouri State University
219 Administration Building,
800 University Drive
Maryville, MO 64468

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