The legacy he left behind: Former Dickinson State president Albert Watrel, 87, passes away

When Albert Watrel arrived at Dickinson State College in 1977, his main goal was to increase student enrollment so the school could expand its programs.
And he did just that. Within 10 years of his presidency, enrollment at the school spiked 60 percent, rising from around 1,000 when he first began to more than 1,600.
“The university flourished under his leadership,” said Lavern Jessen, a longtime athletic director for Dickinson State University. “Enrollment constantly increased, he added good programs and the student activities were always strong.”
The former president of Dickinson State College, now DSU, passed away at his home in Bismarck on Monday, surrounded by family. He was 87.
“He had a wonderful life,” his wife, Carole Watrel, said Wednesday. “He did a lot of good and helped a lot of people.”
As a young man, Watrel was awarded an athletic scholarship for football from Syracuse University in upstate New York. There, along with being named the team’s captain, he also developed a passion for science.
He received a Bachelor of Science in bacteriology, a Master of Science in education, and later, a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the school.
A natural-born teacher with a passion for helping youth thrive, Watrel found a niche and worked his way into administration. He was appointed chair of the chemistry department at the State University of Cortland in New York. After gaining recognition and serving in several other positions, he became the president of Slippery Rock State University in Pennsylvania, which he lead for nine years.
When Watrel accepted the position at DSU, he uprooted his life and moved west to North Dakota, a place his wife said he acclimated to quickly, though it took her longer.
However, as time pressed on, Carole too grew to love the state. From the prairies to the brown-orange Badlands, she said the landscape made an impression.
Ultimately, it was the people that won her, and her husband, over entirely.
“They were so open,” she said.
And so they stayed in Dickinson for the 17 years Watrel served as the Dickinson State College.
Jessen said Watrel’s presidency was one full of accomplishments.
Nearly half of those students were what the school called “Other-Than-Average Students,” ones who were interested in pursuing a degree despite their age.
During Watrel’s time, enrollment also crossed national borders. He was interested in broadening cultural exchanges and acted upon it during a 19-day excursion to China in 1992.
On the trip, agreements were made with China’s Ministry of Higher Education and International Affairs, encouraging student and research exchanges.
As a result, Chinese students began to populate the campus.
However, after years of having success attracting hundreds of international students each year, an audit revealed in 2012 that the school had signed off on hundreds of diplomas, mostly for international students, that weren’t earned. None of those students were enrolled during Watrel’s administration.
Today, the university boasts an enrollment of 100 international students representing 26 countries.
But beyond these accomplishments, Watrel was simply a “good, decent human being,” Jessen said, the sort of person who got along with seemingly everyone, creating a friendly working atmosphere.
Watrel retired in 1994 and moved to Bismarck, which he and his wife would call home for the next 20 years.
During his retirement, Watrel was actively involved in the Rotary Club. He also joined the Bismarck/Mandan SCORE Chapter, which offers entrepreneurs support and advice to grow and expand businesses.
He closely followed football too, rooting for Syracuse, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Minnesota Vikings, to name only a few.
“That kept him active and engaged,” Carole Watrel said.
However, for the past two years Watrel waged a battle against cancer, which diminished his strength.
“As hard as it was to lose him, I know he is in a better place,” his wife said.
Carole Watrel said her husband was able to hold on long enough to meet his first grandson, a moment she will remember for the rest of her life.
She said while he wasn’t able to muster the strength to lift his arm to the child, the spark in Watrel’s eye when he saw the boy said everything.
Three hours after the introduction, Watrel passed quietly in his own bed.
“It’s a lovely vignette, isn’t it?” Carole Watrel said.
A memorial service for Watrel will be held at 11 am Saturday at First Presbyterian Church, 214 East Thayer Ave., in Bismarck. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the church.