JAIMIE FRANKLIN
News Assistant
The 32nd annual Pepperdine Associates Dinner was held April 2 to honor the life and service of Chancellor Emeritus Charles “Charlie” Runnels. During the 40th year of his service at Pepperdine, Runnels and his wife of 55 years Amy Jo have given $1.6 million to the Pepperdine scholarship fund.
The black-tie dinner titled “Celebrating Charlie” was held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills and featured special appearances by George Foreman, Tommy Lasorda and a performance of “Lullaby of Broadway” by the Seaver College Alumni Ensemble.
President Andrew K. Benton came up with the idea to honor Runnels at the dinner.
“I have always admired the fact that Pepperdine is very comfortable saying thank you to people that had a significant impact on the institution,” Benton said. “I can’t personally imagine Pepperdine without Charlie.”
The 850 tickets that were available for the dinner were sold out, and all money made on ticket sales and in ads in the program magazine will be donated toward the scholarship fund. Runnels said he was overwhelmed by the honor.
“I didn’t feel like I deserved it,” Runnels said. “It was the highlight of my working life and made me feel all the time I put in was worthwhile.”
As chancellor, Runnels’ responsibilities include maintaining contact with Pepperdine associates, board members and friends of the community. Since his unanimous election to the position in 1984, Runnels has raised millions of dollars for the university by building friendships anywhere he can. Runnels said he takes every chance he can to attend Rotary Club meetings, town hall meetings and church services in an effort to meet friends.
Despite the many close relationships he has built while at Pepperdine, he maintains he does all of it for young people. Runnels said he and his wife hardly ever miss an athletic event on campus and take pride in supporting student events.
“At my age I don’t have to keep working,” he said. “But I feel…that to keep helping young people in the way that I do by raising money, I have to be out there with them.”
Runnels also said while he does not necessarily look forward to it, he is planning for retirement and has encouraged Benton to begin the search for a new Chancellor.
However, he clarified that he will never fully leave the Pepperdine community and plans on maintaining the friendships he has built over the years to continue serving the university.
“It’s very hard for me to contemplate his slowing down,” Benton said. “I’m not on an active search for a chancellor. Charlie has made that position what it is today, and I don’t think there is another Charlie Runnels out there.”
Runnels was recruited to Pepperdine in 1967 on loan from Houston-based Tenneco, Inc. to help search for a new campus for George Pepperdine College, which was based in South Central Los Angeles.
He joined the selection committee that ultimately chose to develop the Malibu campus, and became heavily involved in construction plans of Seaver College, which opened in 1972.
After construction of the Malibu campus was complete, Runnels and his wife decided to remain at Pepperdine, rather than return back to his company in Texas.
Soon after the campus’ opening, Runnels’ second son, Raleigh, died of leukemia the year before he was to start his freshman year in the first class at Pepperdine. The Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool is named in his honor.
Charlie Runnels’ three other children attended Pepperdine and he has also seen five of his grandchildren attend as well. He said he and his wife plan on leaving their estate evenly divided between their three children and Pepperdine.
04-10-2008