Thomas Hearn, Wake Forest president

Severed ties with Baptist convention

WINSTON-SALEM -- WINSTON-SALEM -- Thomas K. Hearn Jr., president of Wake Forest University from 1983 until 2005, died Monday, the school announced. He was 71.

Hearn, who suffered from brain cancer while serving as president in 2003, was eventually declared cancer-free. He took a leave from his position while he fought the illness.

"He served 22 years with great vision and integrity, and all who love Wake Forest are grateful for his legacy of achievement and the place the institution holds in American higher education," said Nathan Hatch, who succeeded Hearn as the school's 13th president in 2005.

Hearn's first major decision at the school was to sever ties with the Baptist State Convention, paving the way for a self-governing structure at the university.

"It was terribly difficult but necessary," Hearn said of the decision. "It was a pivotal point. It is a pivotal point, and I believe the energy, the vitality, the momentum that that decision brought to the institution is still being felt."

He hired and built

During his presidency, Wake Forest saw college applications double. He hired significantly more faculty, hosted presidential debates in 1988 and 2000, and the college launched an extensive construction and renovation initiative on campus, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.

"I've heard people say Wake Forest had a saving touch when it moved here 50 years ago," Hearn told a Journal reporter in 2006, on the 50th anniversary of the school's move to Winston-Salem, "but it really wasn't ready to undertake that role until I came here."

Hearn is credited with, in particular, his help in starting Winston-Salem Business Inc. A private-business group, it was focused on recruiting jobs and companies in the wake of the Reynolds buyout and other economic changes. The group, of which he was chairman the first three years, helped lure Dell Inc. to Forsyth County.

He pledged the first money for construction of Joel Coliseum, which is home to the men's basketball team, and helped forge the partnership between Baptist Hospital and Wake Forest's medical school.

A statement from the school said a memorial service is being planned for later this week.