A. Kenneth Pye; Former Southern Methodist University President

A. Kenneth Pye, 62, former president of Southern Methodist University who restored the credibility of the school’s football program. Pye retired last month from SMU where he had taken over in 1987, six months after the NCAA banned the Mustangs for chronic violations. Those violations included payments to players from boosters, sometimes known to trustees including former Gov. Bill Clements. After SMU was banned for the 1987 season and chose to sit out 1988, Pye was credited with re-establishing respectability and getting the university back into competitive football. Before joining SMU, Pye spent 21 years at Duke, first as a law professor and later as university counsel, dean of the law school and university chancellor. He balanced both universities’ budgets and was praised for his problem-solving ability. On Monday in Dallas of cancer.