Welcome to Lawrence K. Pettit's Website!
I am a retired University President, Consultant & Writer. Here you'll find my blog posts, op-eds, reports, and links to my memoir:
If You Live by the Sword. Enjoy!and university leadership that spans over 30 years; focuses on four states and Washington, D.C.; highlights personal and professional battles and struggles; reveals the consequences of independence and moral courage in a conformist culture; illustrates the tumultuous results of mixing politics and higher education; reflects on the evolving American political history from 1937 t o 2003 with linkages to the author's political socialization, intellectual development and career; and co essages about proper and improper executive, faculty union and board behavior, and a bout the clash of imperatives between the s 
Monument erected at IUP - the first at any university - as a reminder of the tragedies of 9-11-2001.
All rights reserved.
March 27, 2007-2012.
| Praise for If You Live
by the Sword
"Dr. Lawrence Pettit has proven that
sometimes truth is more fascinating than fiction.His truthful, first-hand
account of lifein politics and academia is a powerful account of the people,
events and policy-making that touch us all. His “read to believe” stories of
political and academic life provide a rare window through which modern politics
and higher education can be better viewed and understood. They are stories from
which we can all learn a great deal."
Tom Daschle,
Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader
“I was frequently moved by the ruthless honesty with which you have examined your life, as well as the clarity with which you have recounted it. Among the many ways in which you mentor, I think this is the one I most wish to emulate.”
Joy LaClaire, Host/Producer, Forthright Radio, Mendocino, CA
"The IUP chapters should be required reading
for anyone who aspires to be Chancellor of the SSHE, a President of any
public university, an administrator at IUP, or a faculty union leader..."
Willard W.
Radell Professor, Department of Economics, Indiana University of
Pennsylvania June 17, 2010 For more click
here
“Tonight I completed reading your
book, If You Live by the Sword. It is a wonderful and very
meaningful book. Additionally, it is well written and captivating. Once I
started reading it, I did not want to stop…
John C. Board, retired
president of the Montana Education Association, June 20,
2010
“Dr. Pettit’s eloquent book is foremost an allegory of American political and cultural transformation. With humility, but without remorse, he navigates the reader from vicissitudes of the Great Depression to the political climax of America electing her first African-American president. Decorated with successful careers in higher education and mainstream politics, his life is truly a life fulfilled. Through this book he continues to inspire love for the American constitution of liberty and fair play. ”
Haider Mullick
Fellow, Institute for Social Policy & Understanding
For more click
here
Dr. Pettit and former Republican Leader in the U.S. Senate,
and 1996
Presidential candidate, Bob Dole.
Dr. Pettit and Congressman John P. Murtha at the dedication
of the Murtha Institute for Homeland Security
at Indiana University of
Pennsylvania, 2003.
For more photos
click | Latest Commentary
Mach 25, 2013
I do not know anyone in higher education who does not accept the need for performance evaluation. Those I know also believe in accountability to stakeholders, including taxpayers who provide funding to public institutions...
Matthew Bailey in his Feb. 6 letter asserts the Second Amendment is about only our right to defend ourselves against the “tyranny of the federal government.” People like Bailey define “tyranny” as having a democratically elected president with whom one disagrees...
Letter attacking Obama over gun rights off baseDec 5, 2012, Helena Independent Record Your letter policy advises against “significant inaccuracies,” but now and then one slips through. The Dec. 2 letter from Doug Brearey, for example, states, “There is no doubt that Obama through the U.N. would like to ban all guns in this country.” With Dave Brubeck (1920-2012) at IUP, March 21, 1994 RIP
Dr. Pettit with Chad Hurley, Co-founder & CEO YouTube, March 2007
Dr. Pettit with Nancy Pelosi, Pittsburgh, 2004.
Roger Reschini in the background
With former President, George H. W. Bush, in 1985
when Bush was Vice President. King Ranch, South Texas.
For more photos click |
