OFFICE OF THE
PRESIDENT AND
THE PROVOST

This is an archival page from an earlier version of our Web site. For more recent information visit the current Office of the President site.

History of University Presidents

Western Reserve University:

• 1830-1833: Charles Backus Storrs
• 1834-1855: George Edmond Pierce
• 1855-1871: Henry Lawrence Hitchcock
• 1871-1886: Carroll Cutler
• 1887-1890: Hiram Collins Haydn
• 1890-1921: Charles Franklin Thwing
• 1921-1923: James Delong Williamson,
  acting president
• 1923-1933: Robert Ernest Vinson
• 1933-1934: Winfred George Leutner,
  acting president
• 1934-1949: Winfred George Leutner
• 1949-1967: John Schoff Millis

Case Institute of Technology:

• 1886-1902: Cady Staley
• 1902-1929: Charles Sumner Howe
• 1929-1947: William Elgin Wickenden
• 1947-1966: T. Keith Glennan
• 1950-1952: Elmer Hutchisson,
  acting president
• 1958-1961: Kent Hale Smith,
  acting president
• 1966-1967: Robert Warren Morse

Case Western Reserve University:

• 1967-1970: Robert Warren Morse
• 1970-1971: Louis Adelbert Toepfer,
  acting president
• 1971-1980: Louis Adelbert Toepfer
• 1980-1987: David Vincent Ragone
• 1987-1999: Agnar Pytte
• 1999-2001: David Auston
• 2001-2002: James Wagner,
  interim president
• 2002-Present: Edward M. Hundert

This is an archival page from an earlier version of our Web site. For more recent information visit the current Office of the President site.

Timeline

1826

February 7: Western Reserve College Charter signed.

March 1: Members of the new Board of Trustees gather in Hudson for their first meeting.

October 4: Instruction of first class begins in Tallmadge, Ohio.

1828

First professor hired.

1830

August: First class, numbering four, graduates; Charles Backus Storrs appointed first president.

1832

John C. Fayette, the university's first black student, enrolled at Western Reserve College in 1832, receiving his undergraduate degree in 1836 and completing his theological degree a year later.

1843

Instruction begins in the Medical Department of Western Reserve College, popularly known as Cleveland Medical College (because the department was located in Cleveland).

1852

Nancy Elizabeth Talbot Clark was the first woman to graduate from Western Reserve's nine-year-old medical school.

1876

Viola Smith Buell became the first woman to graduate from Western Reserve College.

1877

Leonard Case, Jr. bequeathes real property in downtown Cleveland to found an engineering school teaching "physics, mathematics, mechanical and civil engineering, economic geology, mining and metallurgy, natural history, drawing and modern languages."

1880

Case School of Applied Science incorporated.

1882

With the support of Amasa Stone, Western Reserve moves to Cleveland to exist "in close proximity and harmony" with Case School of Applied Science. Stone also encourages Rutherford B. Hayes to serve on Western Reserve University's board.

1892

School of Dentistry, now the School of Dental Medicine, is founded.

1903

The School of Library Science (closed in 1986) is founded.

1908

The School of Pharmacy (closed in 1949) is founded.

1907

Albert A. Michelson, professor of Physics at the Case School of Applied Sciences from 1882-1889, becomes the first American to win the Nobel Prize in science. As of 2004, 14 Nobel prize winners have been affiliated with Case.

1911

The School of Law, founded in 1891, becomes the first U.S. Law school to require a college degree for admission.

1915

The School of Applied Social Sciences, now the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, is founded.

1923

The School of Nursing, now the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, is founded.

1929

The School of Architecture (closed in 1953) is founded.

1945

Laura Diehl was the first woman to receive an undergraduate degree from Case School of Applied Science, a B.S. in Physics.

1947

Case School of Applied Sciences changes its name to Case Institute of Technology, takes on graduate programs and sets a course of greater cooperation with its neighbor, Western Reserve University.

1952

The School of Business, now the Weatherhead School of Management, is founded.

1958

Case president T.K. Glennan is appointed by President Eisenhower as first administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and lays the foundation for John Glenn's 1962 orbital flight.

1967

Western Reserve University and Case Institute of Technology are joined to form Case Western Reserve University.

1989

The first phase of CaseNET comes online, the fastest, most comprehensive communications network on any American campus.

1997

Case alumnus, David Satcher, is appointed as the surgeon general of the United States, making him the second alumnus of the university to hold this position.

1998

Case Western Reserve University's Nassau Astronomical Station is made available online as the country's first Earth-bound robotic telescope accessible to the public.

2001

Case Board of Trustees approves new master plan.

2003

As part of President Hundert's Inauguration, he and Cleveland Mayor, Jane Campbell, host "Great Universities and Their Cities, " an innovative colloquium bringing university presidents and government officials together to discuss partnering opportunities benefiting universities and their home towns.

2003

Case chosen to host 2004 vice presidential debate: Commission on Presidential Debates selects Case and Cleveland from 14 proposals.

2004

Case adopts groundbreaking seminar program, SAGES, for undergraduate education.