Served: 1890-1894
Born: 1850, Dearborn, Mich.
Died: 1939, Dearborn, Mich.

* Dean of the School of Agriculture
Director of the Agriculture Experiment Station


Gulley issued the University's first three bulletins on agriculture, which included information about research at the University.

Served: 1894-1895
Born: 1849, Ohio
Died: 1915, Los Angeles, Calif.

Comstock was an explorer, miner and engineer


During his term, the first printed forms for grade reports were developed.

Served: 1895-1897
Born: Ohio
Died: 1928, East St. Louis

There was no graduating class at the University in 1896, but Billman did hold commencement exercises for students completing the preparatory course.


On Memorial Day in 1897, diplomas were presented to three graduates. Shortly after graduation, Billman resigned and returned to the ministry. He was a pastor from 1904-1911 in East St. Louis, where he died in 1928.

Served: 1897-1901
Born: Maine
Died: 1928, Pasadena, Calif., Age: 78

In 1901, the Board of Regents re-employed Parker for another term with a $400 salary increase. But in short order, Chancellor William Herring asked for his resignation with charges of improper conduct toward “certain female instructors.” The charges were never substantiated.


Parker obtained funding from the Legislature for a new men’s dormitory, South Hall, and a joint manual training/assay building.

Served: 1901-1903
Born: 1867, New York State
Died: 1919, Calif., Age: 52

When Millard Parker resigned from the presidency, the Arizona Board of Regents made Adams acting president. Students petitioned in his favor and the regents responded by selecting him to be the fourth president of the University.


Adams’ most notable achievements during his presidential term were the implementation of an electrical lighting system to replace coal oil lamps on campus and the construction of a dining hall.

Served: 1903-1910
Born: New York State
Died: 1932, Illinois

Babcock’s presidency began with the first formal inauguration of a president at the University. The ceremony was held at the Tucson Opera House with the governor, the Board of Regents, many state officials and members of the local business community in attendance.


One of Babcock's most outstanding appointments was Andrew Ellicott Douglass to teach physics in 1906. Douglass went on to establish the department of astronomy and founded dendochronology, the science of tree-ring dating.

Served: 1910-1911
Born: July 5, 1867, Windsor, Vt
Died: 1962, Age: 94

Douglass served as acting president at the University of Arizona for three months from Dec. 20, 1910, to March 10, 1911, between the presidential terms of Kendrick Babcock and Arthur Wilde.


From 1894 through 1901, Douglass was an assistant astronomer and sometime acting director for the Lowell Observatory. He remained in Flagstaff until 1906. He and his wife, Ida Whittington, a music teacher, then moved to Tucson, where he joined the faculty at the UA as a professor of physics and astronomy.

Served: 1911-1914
Born: 1865, Saxonville, Mass.
Died: Jan. 7, 1944, Mass.

Wilde expanded the university’s extension program to include lectures by faculty other than experiment station staff. He also established courses in home economics and bacteriology.


Wilde obtained funds to construct a new men’s dormitory, Arizona Hall, which was completed in the spring of 1913. The dorm was named in honor of Arizona’s 1912 admission into statehood.

Served: 1914-1921
Born: 1875, Sandwich, Ill.
Died: 1964, Calif. Age: 89

One of the famous events to happen during von KleinSmid’s time at the university was the building of the A on “A” Mountain.


During von KleinSmid’s administration, enrollment increased from 451 to 1,732. He established the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, which later became the College of Liberal Arts

Served: 1922
Born: 1864, Mount Erie, Ill.
Died: 1948, Tucson, Ariz. Age: 83

In April 1922, Lockwood was made acting president.


He was a professor of English, director of the Extension Division, dean of men, and dean of the College of Liberal Arts, as well as acting president.

Served: 1922-1927
Born:
Died: Age: 79

Marvin was seen as dictatorial, rarely consulting with others about changes he made such as recommending cutting back the university's departments from 49 to 28. In 1924 the university received full accreditation from the Association of American Universities under his tenure.


In 1922, a University polo team formed and two years later it became the first university team to be invited to participate in a national athletic championship.

Served: 1927-1928
Born:
Died: 1954, Tucson, Ariz. Age: 93

After his successor joined the university in June 1928, Cummings returned to the department of archaeology, the directorship of the Arizona State Museum, undertook expeditions and became the acknowledged dean of Southwestern archaeologists.


Cummings came to the University in 1915 to serve as professor and head of the department of archaeology. He became director of the Arizona State Museum, which had been created by territorial law in 1893.

Served: 1928-1936
Born: 1876, Kent County, Mich.
Died: 1958

Shantz’s presidency began just before the Great Depression in 1929. Despite financial difficulties, Shantz was committed to moving the university forward. The College of Law was accredited and many new academic programs began during his tenure.


Shantz submitted his resignation in the spring of 1936 after a long battle with the Legislature and the Board of Regents. After leaving the presidency he directed the U.S. Forest Service’s Division of Wildlife Management.

Served: 1936-1937
Born: Providence, R.I.
Died: 1968, Kingston, R.I. Age: 82

Burgess, dean of the College of Agriculture, agreed to serve in a temporary role as acting president of the University of Arizona upon Homer L. Shantz resignation. By October, no replacement had been selected, so the Board of Regents appointed Burgess to be the eleventh university president. He accepted the position but expressed an adamant desire to return to the deanship.


Burgess was viewed as being fair-minded in dealing with problems of faculty unrest over depression-era salary cuts, student protests over compulsory ROTC, and an investigation by a committee of the American Association of University Professors over academic tenure.

Served: 1937-1947
Born: 1879, Ontario, Canada
Died: May 16, 1958, Tucson, Ariz.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, campus life changed. Courses and specialized training programs were offered to support the war effort, including classes in noncollege vocational skills to meet the demands of factories. A naval training school was established. By the time the war ended, 11,000 troops had been trained on campus.


Atkinson's annual salary of $10,000 remained the same until his tenth and final year at the University, when it rose to $11,025.

Served: 1947-1951
Born: Feb. 28, 1895, Illinois
Died: 1970, Tucson, Ariz.

As president, McCormick faced enrollment increases and inadequate facilities to handle the additional students. Servicemen flocked to the university after World War II and, desperate for classroom and office space, the administration accepted the government’s offer of surplus temporary dwelling units.


Milestones during his term include the creation of the School of Pharmacy in 1947 and the first faculty/staff retirement system to name a few.

Served: 1951-1971
Born:
Died:

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Served: 1971-1982
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Served: 1982-1991
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Served: 1991-1997
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Served: 1997
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Served: 1997-2006
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Served: 2006-2011
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Served: 2011-2012
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Served: 1912-present
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