Catching Up With Karl Anatol

Many know Karl Anatol as the name on one of the most popular conference centers on campus But the former communication studies professor left a legacy at CSULB that amounts to much more than those busy rooms in the Academic Services building.

For more than 30 years, Dr. Anatol served in leadership roles across the university, culminating in a 12-year run as provost that ran throughout the 1990s, a decade that saw the opening of the Pyramid and the Carpenter Center, the creation of the President’s Scholars program, and the merger that created the College of Liberal Arts.

Born in Trinidad in 1935, Dr. Anatol came to the U.S. in 1960 to study at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, where he received his bachelor’s degree.

After earning a master’s degree at Purdue University, Dr. Anatol joined the faculty at CSULB at the same time he began his doctoral studies at USC, which he completed in

1974 with a doctoral dissertation titled “The Assessment of the Effects of an Interviewer’s Race, Status and Subjects’ Social Classification on Black Interviewees’ Opinionnaire Responses.”

In 1977, he became the chair of the department of speech communication, a role he held for a year before being named the associate dean of the School of Humanities. He was promoted to dean in 1983, where he served for six years. In 1989, he took on the role of acting provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, a role that was made permanent in 1990. He remained as provost until his retirement in 2002, serving one year in the middle of his tenure, from 1993 to 1994, as the university’s acting president.

We spoke with Dr. Anatol about his work at CSULB, his memories of his time on campus, and the importance of the liberal arts

What was your main area of study/research as an academic?

For quite some time, I have held onto an interest in assuring clarity in the use of the spoken word, privately and publicly and formally. Language is our currency. We need to receive it, spend it, and share it strategically. My main area of study has always been the impact of human communication and the tools that insured mission accomplishment.

How did CSULB change over the years you were there?

The Quonset Huts that marked most of the so-called lower campus administrative and teaching sites are gone. Parking opportunities were improved via a sturdy basis of strategic planning. Faculty scholarship has been recognized as a vital foundation for student achievement.

Since your retirement, what do you miss most about CSULB?

I miss the interaction with colleagues and the hustle and bustle that student involvement brings.

Why did you choose to go into leadership/ administration?

Mine was not a conscious and planned assault on opportunity. It seems to me that in the university there are those who get pushed into the rooms wherein there is no exit And there you are! Titled although not always entitled. At times there is the award of the driver’s license without test or training. It is a tricky business, governed by clocks and calendars that insist on forward movement.

The Anatol Center is one of the busiest event spaces on campus. Why was it important to you to ensure that faculty and staff had a space to come together for meetings and to host their events?

The development of a university happens through conversation and discussion. The Anatol Center provides such a forum, and I regard it as the university’s “drawing room.”

What did you like most about working at CSULB?

I appreciated how the faculty at CSULB grew into its high regard for the maintenance of scholarly sharpness through research and publication. The growth toward university status has required diligent regard for small rations, but the work gets done! My favorite memory centers on my regard for the brilliant leadership of Robert “Bob” Maxson. If ever there was a university president who propelled a program through application of genuine regard for the institution’s personnel—its students, staff and faculty— Bob Maxson was superb!

What is the importance of the liberal arts in academia and society?

The convening of the liberal arts in the university setting brings vital tonic to the conversations that we inevitably must have during a lifetime. When one is alone because of choice or circumstance, it would be encouraging to anticipate that when one “knocks upon oneself,” someone inside will answer, thanks to an education in the liberal arts