At left, present on the day of the induction ceremony were (from left) Donald Booth, Esmael Adibi, Lynne Doti, Milton Friedman, inductee James Doti, Raymond Sfeir and Homa Shabahang.

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James Doti

They say great leaders are made, not born, and the same can be said for great educational institutions and communities.  Back in 1991, despite its founding in 1861, Chapman University was in many ways a fledgling.  The same could be said for Old Towne, founded in 1871.  Over the last two and a half decades, Chapman and Old Towne have improved together, and those advancements have put both on the map.

In 1991 when James Doti took office as Chapman University’s 12th president, under his direction the learning institution began a trajectory that would catapult Chapman from a small, regional college to a vibrant university that currently ranks #7 in U.S. News & World Report’s 2016 Best Regional Universities of the West.  At the same time, that rise has led to increased popularity for Old Towne, which frequently ranks as a “most walkable” and “safest” city.

Old Towne’s Rise

“High tides lift all boats, and as Chapman has succeeded, so has Old Towne,” notes Charlene Baldwin, Dean of Chapman’s Leatherby Libraries, who joined the university 16 years ago.  “In many ways, Old Towne is a better place to live and enjoy than a couple of decades ago.  Today, the Plaza is a vibrant center full of eateries and a variety of retail establishments and businesses.    The university has renovated buildings on and off-campus, and many Old Towne residents have restored their homes, which has led to increased property values.”

In the course of developing on and offsite buildings, Chapman has also introduced a wide variety of benefits to the community, such as the recently opened Musco Center for the Arts.  The 88,000-square-foot, world-class arts center features 1,044 seats on three levels and is open to the public with offerings from a wide variety of locally, nationally and internationally acclaimed performers.

During the holidays, the university also holds the ever popular Chapman Celebrates (formerly American Celebration) and the Wassail.  The Dodge College of Film and Media Arts hosts movie screenings throughout the year, and the Hilbert Museum of California Art is always free and open to the public.  Residents can also use the 100,000-square-foot, five-story Leatherby Libraries, which contain more than 300,000 books, bound volumes and media within nine distinctive libraries, some of which contain permanent exhibits, such as the California’s Gold Exhibit and Huell Howser Archives and the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Memorial Library.

“There is no doubt that Chapman and Old Towne have grown together,” says Doy Henley, a longtime Orange business owner and Chapman University Board of Trustees Chairman Emeritus.  “Just look at the growth on campus with the new facilities and the many successful restaurants and businesses in the Plaza.  The fact is that success breeds success.  When you have a dynamic organization like Chapman, with stellar students, faculty and leadership who bring their business to the community, Old Towne and the city of Orange can’t help but benefit.”

While Chapman experienced its trajectory, Old Towne did the same, thanks to the efforts of those in the city government and concerned citizens, who started the Old Towne Orange Preservation Association in 1986 in order to protect the area’s historic legacy.  It was thanks to the efforts of these dedicated residents, many of whom still live in Old Towne, that the one-square-mile area gained entry onto the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, making it the state’s largest historic district.

End of an Era at Chapman

On September 1, Doti will step down as president and hand over the reins to Chancellor Daniele Struppa, who will become Chapman’s 13th president.  Doti will remain in a teaching capacity.  While he would be the first to say that many had a hand in bringing the school from obscurity into the spotlight, those closely involved in the university’s growth over the years share that his vision, leadership and direction led to Chapman’s rise.

“When Jim took office, he had a vision, and he never strayed from it,” says Henley.  “He had a series of five-year plans, and he worked to accomplish all of them.  He made subtle adjustments to the plans along the way, but he never strayed from the goal–to create a high-quality, well-known university.”

Doti spearheaded the growth of the university by sharing his vision, says Henley.  “His approach involved getting everyone on the same team.  He did this by building up enthusiasm amongst the Board of Trustees, faculty, staff, administration and students.  As a result, everyone embraced his vision and that had a synergistic effect that doesn’t happen very often.”

Prior to Doti’s appointment to president, the members of the school’s Board of Trustees were frustrated, notes hotel owner Don Sodaro, who served as Chairman of the Board for 11 years and has been a member since 1988.  He and his wife, Deedee, are devoted to higher education.  “Back then, we all knew the possibilities for the school, but it takes the right people to make it happen,” says Sodaro.  “We searched for the ideal president and found Jim, who had been at Chapman since 1974, right there in our midst.”

Superior Leadership

Doti convinced everyone to embrace his visions for Chapman using his leadership skills, notes Henley.  “Jim is able to generate respect for his ideas, because he is respectful of others.  He listens to everyone’s opinions and comes up with plans that take into account those various opinions.  He is also willing to compromise and adjust when necessary to accommodate other’s views, and he does it all with a spirit of great enthusiasm that everyone embraces.”

Sodaro agrees. “He’s a brilliant manager and values relationships.  It is his skill at nurturing friendships that enabled him to bring in and develop a topnotch management team and administrative staff and attract a great faculty that has taken the school to the next level.  All of these improvements required that he do a tremendous amount of fundraising, which was successful, because he shared his vision with donors.”

Board of Trustees member David Henley (no relation to Doy Henley) notes that the number one problem the school had when Doti took office was a lack of sufficient finances for growth.  “Jim’s vision and ability to budget and his understanding of economics led to the school’s successful advancement over the last 25 years,” he says.

One of Doti’s greatest achieve-ments is maintaining a balanced budget during his presidency, adds Don Booth, Professor Emeritus of Economics for the George L. Argyros School of Business and Economics.  “Jim used his own financial training to keep Chapman in financial order, which is incredible.  I invite anyone else to duplicate that feat.”

Doti’s Enduring Legacy

Though during his tenure he transformed the university’s landscape by ensuring the addition of state-of-the-art facilities, that’s not his legacy, notes Baldwin.  “The buildings support his legacy, which is the academic mission of the creation of new knowledge on our campus that inspires students and encourages them to continue their studies.  He did this in part by increasing student selectivity– there were Fulbright and Truman scholars during his presidency– and hiring star faculty.  The latter has led to enhanced academic offerings and programs, including expansion recently into the health sciences.”

“Jim has always insisted on excellence,” says Henley (Doy).  “If he couldn’t do something first class, he simply wouldn’t do it. I believe 10 to 20 years from now we’ll still be talking about his leadership.”  No doubt, we’ll be doing the same regarding Old Towne’s rise to prominence.

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Display panels of Doti’s accomplishments during his presidency can be seen at Leatherby Libraries.  For more information about James Doti and Daniele Struppa and other influential individuals at Chapman, visit www.OrangeReview.com/archive/building-character.