President Malicky served as the sixth president of Baldwin Wallace college (now Baldwin-Wallace University) for eighteen years. He was the school’s longest serving president to date. Walking the campus with him was a very slow process because he would stop and talk to each student as well as the members of the janitorial staff, and he knew each person by name. He had earned the respect and friendship of everyone on campus.
Dr. Malicky was an extremely humble man. When presented with the possibility of having his portrait done, he asked, “Why waste funds on a painting of me, when we could purchase more books for the library?” Nonetheless he acquiesced to a photo session in which we explored many options for clothing and background. We finally decided on his doctoral robe, the medallions, and cap, flanked by our country’s and the university’s flags along with the arched window to complete the composition. The university dedicated The Neal Malicky Center for the Social Sciences in his honor in 2001, installing the portrait for permanent display. The building with its four-sided clock tower is a campus landmark.
In his retirement, Dr Malicky was looking forward to photographing the beauty of nature.
