Since its founding, the AAUP has occupied a unique place in American higher education. This has been so primarily because of the principles and policy standards developed under its aegis, the first of which were articulated in the 1915 Declaration of Principles on Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure.
Few members of the Association’s national staff have advocated for these principles and standards as artfully and conscientiously as Gregory F. Scholtz, who retired in July after seventeen years of exceptional service in the Department of Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Governance (DAFTG).
Greg was hired in September 2008 to direct the department, which has existed in different forms over more than six decades but has always had primary responsibility for advancing the AAUP’s historic mission. The duties of the director are weighty, especially staffing the venerable Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure. Greg performed them all with distinction.
Henry Reichman, who chaired Committee A for nearly a decade, observed the following about Greg:
When I became chair of Committee A in 2012, Greg and I were barely acquainted, so our initial relationship was, to a great extent, one of mutual suspicion. Greg, I’m sure, distrusted my inexperience as much as I feared he would be hidebound and overcautious. He was right about my inexperience, and I learned quickly from him that caution and tradition are not to be disdained. We had disagreements, of course, but I cannot imagine my AAUP service without the benefit of Greg’s wisdom, his mentorship, and his equanimity. The AAUP may be best known for its defense of academic freedom, but the work that the staff do in that battle is underappreciated and inadequately celebrated. For more than fifteen years, Greg was at the center of that work. His leadership will be missed.
Prior to joining the staff, Greg, who holds a PhD in English from the University of Chicago, taught English literature and composition at Wartburg College in Iowa. A member of the Association since 1992, he was active in the Wartburg chapter and Iowa conference, serving in several officer positions. Greg’s activities at the national level included serving three terms on Committee A and on five Committee A investigating committees, four of which he chaired. He also served four terms on the Committee on College and University Governance, two as chair. He retired from Wartburg as professor emeritus in May 2010.
As a faculty member and subsequently as a staff member, Greg bestowed a number of gifts upon the AAUP and, by extension, the profession. His final gift was perhaps his most significant: the publication in April of the twelfth edition of the Redbook, which he expertly edited.
Reflections by former longtime staff member B. Robert Kreiser, himself an editor of five previous editions of the Redbook, eloquently capture the sentiments of the current DAFTG staff:
It’s hard to imagine the AAUP without Greg Scholtz. Throughout his years of dedicated service, his presence has become synonymous with the very bedrock of academic freedom, tenure, and governance that have been at the heart of the organization’s historic mission. Through battles and triumphs, his dedication and insightful approach have been a constant source of inspiration. Greg’s sharp wit, encyclopedic knowledge of the Redbook, and genuine passion for ensuring a fair and equitable environment for faculty nationwide will be missed. The impact he has made at the AAUP and in the broader higher education community will continue to resonate for years to come. On a personal level, Greg is a genuine mensch: a terrific colleague, a man of integrity, and a good and loyal friend.
In his retirement, Greg plans to spend time with his family and to continue his project, begun during his study leave in 2023, of reading and building a database of every Committee A investigative report since 1915.