Leroy Brown
1st president
1887-1889
Brown, a former Ohio education commission member, was a cashier at an Ohio bank when he was selected by the Βι¶ΉΣ³» Board of Regents to serve as president. A veteran of the Civil War, Brown selected his first assistant and faculty member, Hannah K. Clapp of Carson City, who would go on to serve the University as librarian and instructor for 14 years. Within two years Brown built a faculty of 10 and student body of 127 in the fields of Liberal Arts and Mechanical Arts, Normal School, Mining and Agriculture, and a Commercial Department.
Stephen Jones
2nd president
1889-1894
Jones came to the University from a high school in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was a student of classical languages, receiving his training from Dartmouth and at the universities at Munster and Bonn in Germany. The faculty increased to 15 members during his presidency, and enrollment grew to 179 in his final year as president. The University observed its first graduating class, in 1891, during the Jones presidency.
Joseph Stubbs
3rd president
1894-1914
Stubbs took over an institution that had seen six principals and two presidents in 20 years. Over his 20-year tenure, Stubbs would provide stability and vision to the University. In 1894, the University had five buildings. By 1900, there were 11, including two student dormitories and a gymnasium. He encouraged the establishment of more high schools in the state to ensure the University’s students were well-prepared for the rigors of higher education.
Archer Hendrick
4th president
1914-1917
Hendrick was Canadian-born and was president of Whitman College in Washington when he was appointed.
Walter Clark
5th president
1918-1938
Clark studied at Ohio Wesleyan University and Columbia, and was known for scholarly research in economics and business, as well as a distinguished 15-year teaching career at City College of New York. The growth of the University’s physical facilities continued under Clark, including the expansion of the football stadium, construction of $415,000 Mackay Science Hall, and the opening of a new $250,000 library. Clark was known for his support of academic freedom, and often defended the faculty in its name.
Leon W. Hartman
6th president
1938-1943
Hartman, a faculty member, succeeded President Walter Clark, who was in poor health during his final year of the presidency. From acting president in 1938 he was formally inaugurated in 1939. He insisted on academic freedom and welcomed faculty participation in the University’s affairs. He was only the second University president to die in office.
John O. Moseley
7th president
1944-1949
Moseley was acting dean of students at the University of Tennessee when he was appointed. Originally from Texas, he had received his A.B. degree from Austin College and attended Oxford. The University saw a brief upsurge in enrollment in the years immediately following World War II, as students under the G.I. Bill flocked to college campuses. It was during this period when the University acquired benefactor Max C. Fleischmann’s 258-acre farm near east Reno.
Malcolm A. Love
8th president
1950-1952
Love received his advanced training at the University of Iowa. He welcomed input from faculty and students about the direction of the University. An academic council was established to advise his administration. He met regularly with the Student Life Council and was considered a forerunner of how modern university presidents seek student participation in an institution’s affairs. His administration came to later be known as the “era of good feelings.”
