Jack R. Woolf, former president of UT Arlington predecessor Arlington State College, died Tuesday, June 10, 2014, in Arlington. He was 90.

Dr. Woolf served as president of Arlington State College from 1959 to 1968. He was named acting president of Arlington State College in 1958 after the sudden death of President E. H. Hereford. Woolf was appointed permanent president in 1959 just a few days after his 35th birthday.

During Woolf's tenure as president, he:

Guided UT Arlington from status as a junior college to a four-year, baccalaureate degree institution;

Directed UT Arlington's transition from the Texas A&M System to The University of Texas System in 1965;

Fostered UT Arlington's first graduate programs;

Worked to achieve accreditation of five engineering baccalaureate programs.

After stepping down as president in 1968, Woolf remained a professor of mechanical engineering at UT Arlington until he retired in 1989. Dr. Woolf continued to teach mechanical engineering courses until 1994.

Woolf Hall, the second largest building in the UT Arlington College of Engineering, is named in honor of President Woolf. It houses the offices of the Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering departments, the interdisciplinary Autonomous Vehicles Laboratory and the Formula SAE racing team's offices and garage.

Dr. Woolf was born in Trinidad, Texas, and served as a commissioned officer in the Army Air Corps. He earned his undergraduate and master's degrees in engineering from Texas A&M University and his doctorate from Purdue University.

Dr. Woolf was preceded in death by a daughter, Ann, who died in September 1973, and his wife Martha Woolf, who died in July 2013.

Visitation: The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 12, at Wade Family Funeral Home, 4140 W. Pioneer Parkway, Arlington, Texas.

Memorial service: 2 p.m. Friday at Wade Family Funeral Home Chapel.

Memorials may be made to the Woolf Endowed Scholarship Fund, Office of Development, The University of Texas at Arlington, Box 19198, Arlington, Texas 76019-0198, or Faith in Practice, 7500 Beechnut St., Suite 208, Houston, Texas 77074.