18 Facts About John Silber

John Robert Silber was an American academician and candidate for public office.

John Silber lost that election to the Republican William Weld, who won by 38,000 votes.

John Silber had a liberal reputation in his days at Texas, though at Boston University he was best known as a conservative spokesman in academia.

John Silber was born with a malformed right arm that ended in a stump just below his elbow with a rudimentary thumb.

John Silber was a member of the National Honor Society at Jefferson High School in San Antonio, and played trumpet in the school band.

In 1959, John Silber earned a Fulbright scholarship, which enabled him to travel to West Germany to teach at the University of Bonn for a year.

In 1967, John Silber became Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at UT.

Three years later, in a widely publicized firing, John Silber was removed as Dean in 1970 by the UT Regents Chairman Frank Craig Erwin, Jr.

John Silber was appointed president of Boston University on December 17,1970 and took office the following month.

John Silber took a one-year leave of absence from BU in 1987, and then again in 1990 when he ran for governor of Massachusetts as a Democrat.

John Silber returned to his position at BU after losing the election to William Weld.

John Silber charged five of these faculty members with negligence and moved to penalize them.

John Silber was especially visible in confrontations with historian Howard Zinn.

John Silber prevented Zinn from receiving pay raises and promotions over a number of years.

John Silber advocated integration at the University of Texas and was the first person to chair the Texas Society to Abolish Capital Punishment.

John Silber promoted Operation Head Start, an early education program for preschoolers.

John Silber's perceived angry personality, along with Weld's socially liberal views, aided Weld in the race.

In 1976, BU published a 32-page article by John Silber called "Democracy: Its Counterfeits and Its Promise".