History of Brigham Young University - Franklin S. Harris To Ernest L. Wilkinson

Franklin S. Harris To Ernest L. Wilkinson

Franklin S. Harris was appointed President of the University in 1921. He was the first President of the BYU to have a doctoral degree. Harris made several important changes to the school, lifting it from its somewhat dismal status at the end of Brimhall's tenure into a new era. Harris reorganized the college into a true University, whereas before its organization had remnants of the Academy days. He also began work on achieving accreditation for the school. At the beginning of his tenure, the school was not officially recognized as a university by any accreditation organization. By the end of his term, the school was accredited under all major accrediting organizations at the time. He served twenty-four years, longer than any other BYU President, before resigning in 1945 to work at Utah State.

Harris was replaced by President Howard S. McDonald, who had received his doctorate from the University of California. McDonald was used to an organization which placed the President at the head of decision-making, rather than a Board of Trustees. Because of this, he had a lot of trouble working with the Board, who at BYU had more power than he was accustomed to. However, he achieved several valuable things in his four-year tenure. When he first received the position, the Second World War had just ended, and thousands of students were flooding into BYU. By the end of his stay, the school had grown nearly five times to an enrollment of 5,440 students. The University did not have the facilities to handle such a large influx, so he bought part of an Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah, and rebuilt it to house some of the students. McDonald also did several other things. When asked by Church leaders whether support for the college be dropped, he answered an adamant no, putting an end to the last real question of the school's survival. He also began a significant building program which was continued by his successors. McDonald resigned in 1949 in order to work at a Los Angeles College fitting his administrative style better.

After a one-and-a-half year period in which Christen Jensen temporarily filled the position of President, Ernest L. Wilkinson was called by the Board of Trustees. Wilkinson's administration was a period of intense growth, as the school adopted an accelerated building program. Wilkinson was responsible for the building of over eighty structures on the campus, many of which still stand to this day. During his tenure, the student body increased six times, making BYU the largest private school of the time. The quality of the students also increased, leading to higher educational standards at the school. Finally, President Wilkinson reorganized the LDS church units on campus, with ten stakes and over 100 wards being added during his administration.