Former Presidents
| Name | Administration | Comments | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph R. Williams | 1857–1859 | First president of the college. Went on to serve as lieutenant governor of Michigan. | |
| Lewis R. Fiske | 1859–1862 | Methodist minister. Later served as president of Albion College. | |
| Theophilus C. Abbot | 1862–1885 | Professor of English literature. Later earned an LL.D. from the University of Michigan. | |
| Edwin Willits | 1885–1889 | Former principal for the State Normal School. Later Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for the Cleveland administration. | |
| Oscar Clute | 1889–1893 | ||
| Lewis G. Gorton | 1893–1895 | ||
| Jonathan L. Snyder | 1896–1915 | ||
| Frank S. Kedzie | 1915–1921 | ||
| David Friday | 1922–1923 | ||
| Kenyon L. Butterfield | 1924–1928 | ||
| Robert S. Shaw | 1928–1941 | ||
| John A. Hannah | 1941–1969 | ||
| Walter Adams | 1969–1970 | ||
| Clifton Reginald Wharton, Jr. | 1970–1978 | ||
| Edgar L. Harden | 1978–1979 | ||
| M. Cecil Mackey | 1979–1985 | ||
| John A. DiBiaggio | 1985–1992 | ||
| Gordon Guyer | 1992–1993 | ||
| M. Peter McPherson | 1993–2004 | ||
| Lou Anna Simon | 2004–present |
Read more about this topic: Michigan State University People, Faculty & Administration, Former Administration
Famous quotes containing the word presidents:
“A president, however, must stand somewhat apart, as all great presidents have known instinctively. Then the language which has the power to survive its own utterance is the most likely to move those to whom it is immediately spoken.”
—J.R. Pole (b. 1922)
“All Presidents start out to run a crusade but after a couple of years they find they are running something less heroic and much more intractable: namely the presidency. The people are well cured by then of election fever, during which they think they are choosing Moses. In the third year, they look on the man as a sinner and a bumbler and begin to poke around for rumours of another Messiah.”
—Alistair Cooke (b. 1908)