Harold Haak, 68; President of Cal State Fresno 1980 to 1991
Harold Haak, 68, president of Cal State Fresno for more than a decade, died Friday in a Fresno hospital after lapsing into a coma a day earlier.
Haak was president of Cal State Fresno from 1980 to 1991, and is credited with providing strong leadership for the development of the university’s academic and athletic programs. He also increased the number of women in the university’s administration and guided the campus budget into the black.
Born in Madison, Wis., Haak received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science from the University of Wisconsin and a doctorate in politics from Princeton University.
He taught political science at San Diego State University and later served as dean of public administration and urban studies there. He moved to Cal State Fresno as vice president for academic affairs in 1971, but left in 1973 to become chancellor of the University of Colorado in Denver, where he remained until returning to Fresno as president.
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