Statement from Arizona Board of Regents Chair Doug Goodyear on the Passing of ASU President Emeritus Lattie F. Coor

“On behalf of the Arizona Board of Regents, I want to share our profound sadness at the passing of Dr. Lattie F. Coor, president emeritus of Arizona State University.

Dr. Coor served as ASU's 15th president from 1990 to 2002. He was selected for the role by the Arizona Board of Regents under the leadership of then-Board President Edith Sayre Auslander, during the 1989–90 academic year — a decision that would shape Arizona State University, and Arizona's higher education landscape, for generations to come.

Under Dr. Coor's leadership, ASU earned Research I designation from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 1994, expanded to include the Polytechnic campus and additional extended education sites, and completed a capital campaign that raised more than $400 million to support the university's growth. He was, by every account, a builder — of institutions, of community trust and of Arizona's confidence in what ASU could become. Through his vision and leadership, he laid much of the groundwork for his successor, President Michael M. Crow, to shepherd ASU into a new era and transform ASU into the "New American University."

Dr. Coor's commitment to Arizona did not end with his presidency. As President Emeritus and the Ernest W. McFarland Chair in Leadership and Public Policy, and later as founding chairman and chief executive officer of the Center for the Future of Arizona, he continued for decades to invest in the state's civic and educational future.

On behalf of the current board, and in the spirit of the regents who entrusted him with ASU's leadership more than three decades ago, we extend our deepest condolences to Dr. Coor's family, his many friends and colleagues across ASU and the state, and all who were fortunate to know him. Arizona is stronger for his life's transformative work, and we are grateful for the legacy he leaves behind.”