President of Emporia State University

The President of Emporia State University is the chief administrator of the university. Each is appointed by and is responsible to the other members of that body, who delegate to him or her the day-to-day running of the university.

Emporia State University is a public university in Emporia, Kansas, United States, east of the Flint Hills. Established in March 1863 and originally known as the Kansas State Normal School, Emporia State is the third oldest public university in the state of Kansas. Emporia State is one of six public universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers degrees in more than 80 courses of study through 4 colleges: the School of Business, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, School of Library and Information Management, and The Teachers College. The Teachers College is one of only four post–secondary institutions in the nation to be identified as an Exemplary Model Teacher Education program by Arthur Levine in his 2006 national study of teacher education programs.

To date, the youngest president of Emporia State University has been Lyman Beecher Kellogg, who was the first president of what was the Kansas State Normal. When appointed as the first president of the new state normal school in January 1865, he was only 23 years old. The longest-serving president of the university was Thomas W. Butcher, who held the office for thirty years from 1913 to 1943. The first university alumnus to become its president was Joseph H. Hill in 1906.

The current president of the Emporia State University is Allison Garrett. Garrett replaced the sixteenth president, Michael Shonrock, and interim president, Jacqueline Vietti, and assumed her position on January 4, 2016. Garrett, who was previously the executive vice president at Abilene Christian University, was selected as Emporia State University's 17th president on October 22, 2015. Using the university's counting method (interim presidents are not numbered), Garrett is the seventeenth president of the university. Fifteen men and two women have served as the university's permanent president, and three men and one woman have served as its interim president pending the appointment of a permanent successor.

Each president is a qualified academic professor in some department of the university and will, on occasion, teach courses.

List of presidents

These persons have served as presidents or interim presidents of Kansas State Normal School (1863–1923), Kansas State Teachers College (1923–1974), Emporia Kansas State College (1974–1977), and Emporia State University (1977–present).

Presidents of Emporia State University

Tenure	Name	Background and accomplishments
Kansas State Normal School
First 1865–71		Lyman Beecher Kellogg was the first president of the newly-established normal school in Kansas, and he opened the first class of 18 students with the Lord's Prayer on February 15, 1865. Because funding, facilities, and teaching materials were limited, Kellogg was the only teacher besides being the president and emphasized in Latin and English. In fall of 1865, he added Henry Brace Norton, also an Illinois Normal University graduate, to the faculty.
Second 1871–73	100px	George W. Hoss was able to secure funds from the state legislature to construct a new building, as the number of enrolled students had increased to 200; however, the assembly room in the old building could only accommodate 100. In 1872, Hoss invited members of the state House of Representatives to visit the KSN. The day after their visit, the House passed a $50,000 appropriation, with the provision that the city provide $10,000. The new building was constructed in front of the old building, facing Commercial street, during the fall and winter of 1871 to 1872.
Third 1874–79	100px	Charles Rhodes Pomeroy faced a poor economy, so the school had no funds to pay faculty and Pomeroy had to work without salary. Faculty worked off minimal salary until July 2, 1879 when the board voted that interest and bonds on Normal lands would be paid to teachers for their services during the school year.
Fourth 1879–82	100px	Rudolph B. Welch administration was temporarily housed in two temporary buildings due to a fire and tornado struck the administration building in 1878 on campus. Welch had to reconstruct these two buildings so that there could . In 1881, Welch reorganized the school year to allow for all courses to be taught in every term. Welch traveled the state of Kansas to promote the school and under Welch's management, the school saw a notable increase in attendance.
Fifth 1882–1901	100px	Albert R. Taylor was a president who focused on students and based on that, made an effort to expand the student population by offering reimbursement for students who travelled over 100 miles to attend the Kansas State Normal School. Taylor also established programs which included 10-week sessions, summer school, commercial courses, and military drills. He also upgraded the history, economics, and psychology departments.
Sixth 1901–06	100px	Jasper N. Wilkinson prohibited students who were failing to continue their program at Kansas State Normal School and changed the requirements to earn a degree, making only students who completed the 4-year program would be awarded degrees. In the fall of 1901, the first organized basketball game was played at the Kansas State Normal School. In 1903, the new library was completed and opened, and a new training school was built. A new grandstand overlooking the athletic fields was built in 1905, as well.
Seventh 1906–13	100px	Joseph H. Hill was able to build two new buildings on campus and have them opened including the Norton Science Hall in 1907 and a gymnasium. The Norton Science Hall was a two-story building with a basement that housed a chemistry lab, lecture room, and a classroom in the basement, while on the second floor contained the psychology room, physical science room, botanical lab, a museum, and two classrooms. The other new building that opened during Hill’s administration was the new gymnasium, opening in 1910. In 1909 the Kansas State Legislature approved $20,000 to purchase and renovate a property on the east side of campus to house the music department.
Kansas State Teachers College
Eighth 1913–43	100px	Thomas W. Butcher is Emporia State's longest serving president, to this day, and accomplished many things while at the Kansas State Teachers College. In 1914, a “work study” program was started, which is still used today. The new four stories high administrative building, named Plumb Hall, was completed in 1917. It also houses a 2,500 seat auditorium, named Albert Taylor Hall after the fifth president of KSN Albert R. Taylor. Under Butcher's administration, the Memorial Union was built in 1922, and in 1938 a new football stadium, later named Francis G. Welch Stadium, was completed.
Ninth 1943–45	100px	James F. Price created many committees during his tenure and the needs of the students were his most immediate concern.
Tenth 1945–53	100px	David L. MacFarlane was able to gain funds to build the William Allen White Library on the south side of campus and build new residence halls on the north side of campus. in 1952, MacFarlane suffered from heart problems and later died on January 3, 1953 while still in office, making him the first, and only first sitting president at Emporia State to die in office.
Interim 1953	100px	John Jacobs became the interim president of KSTC after President MacFarlane died of heart problems. Jacobs began on January 16, 1953, and his last day at KSTC was July 31, 1953.
Eleventh 1953–66	100px	John E. King served 13 years as president and saw KSTC's enrollment increased six-fold, reaching its highest enrollment ever. Scholarships also increased in number and there was an emphasis on science as scientific competition with the Soviet Union increased.
Interim 1966–67	100px	Larry Boylan served as the Interim President of KSTC from August 1966 to February 1967.
Emporia Kansas State College / Emporia State University
Twelfth 1967–84	100px	John E. Visser established the faculty and student senates and placed a strong emphasis on open communication between students and the administration. Visser also organized the school into separate academic schools with departments and divisions within each. Some other significant changes during Visser's tenure was the school’s largest enrollment ever in 1969 with 7,150 students, and when KSTC changed its name to Emporia Kansas State College in July 1974 and to its current name, Emporia State University in April 1977, when the school was granted university status.
Thirteenth 1984–97	100px	Robert E. Glennen began at Emporia State on July 1, 1984, and faced a $1.1 million budget cut, declining enrollments, and even the threatened closing of the institution. One of his most successful events during his tenure as president was the establishment of the National Teachers Hall of Fame, a non-profit organization that honors exceptional school teachers throughout the United States.
Fourteenth 1997–2006	100px	Kay Schallenkamp was the first woman president to serve Emporia State University. During her tenure at ESU, she stabilized enrollment after several years of decline. She created a graphic identity standard for the University, including the "Power E", which is the current athletics logo for ESU, and replaced multiple non-permanent logos and improved recognition of ESU. Schallenkamp also increased the endowment pool in the ESU Foundation initiated the Presidential Scholars program, allowing the automatic offer of a scholarship to those with high ACT scores. This initiative improved recruiting.
Interim 2006	100px	John O. Schwenn began his career as the Interim President of ESU on July 1, 2006, and serving until October 31, 2006. Previously, Schwenn served multiple positions at Emporia State with holding the office of provost before becoming the interim president.
Fifteenth 2006–11	100px	Michael R. Lane oversaw the largest renovation project, on campus, of the Memorial Union. On June 30, 2011, Lane stepped down to return to teaching accounting at Emporia State, after many of the alumni and community members questioned his commitment to the university.
Interim 2011	100px	Dr. H. Edward Flentje began his five month term on July 1, 2011 as the interim president of Emporia State. He served until December 31, 2011. During Fientje's tenure, he helped establish $7.5 million in new scholarships for new students, freshmen, and transfer students.
Sixteenth 2012–15	100px	Michael Shonrock and his administration helped the university launch the largest fundraising campaign in university history during the 150th Anniversary of Emporia State, with a $45 million goal in five–to–seven years, increased seven consecutive semesters of enrollment growth, and received an additional annual allocation of $1 million from the Government of Kansas for an honors college. Shonrock also led the development of a campus master plan, and The Adaptive University Strategic Plan, and instituted a new statewide and regional marketing campaign, communications with alumni were enhanced and new community partnerships were established. Shonrock also started a bi-weekly radio segment called ESU Buzz with President Michael Shonrock on KVOE, which always had special guest and discussed a variety of issues and initiatives at Emporia State University.
Interim 2015	100px	Jacqueline Vietti served as interim president from June 1 to December 31, 2015. During Vietti's term, she helped the university begin to move forward to become a more diverse university after an assistant professor from the School of Library and Information Management (SLIM) claimed a racial note was written aimed at him and his wife in April 2015. In September 2015, Vietti released a statement saying two investigations concluded that no hate crime occurred; however, a federal lawsuit was filed by the assistant professor against university officials in October 2015 as a result. Vietti also formed a relationship between the university and Lyon County and City of Emporia governments with both governments donating a $375,000 each year for the next five years.
Seventeenth 2016–		Allison Garrett began her career as the seventeenth president of Emporia State University on January 4, 2016. Garrett previously served as the executive vice president at Abilene Christian University, and before that as the senior vice president at Oklahoma Christian University.

See also

• List of Emporia State University people

External links

• Official website – Office of the President
  • Past Presidents website
  • Past Interim Presidents website