William E. Morgan 1949 - 1969 |
University Presidents |
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In 1932, Morgan entered the graduate program the University of California at Berkeley. With his master's degree in hand he returned to his position at Texas A & M, but left to become an agricultural economist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He returned to his home state to teach at the University of Texas in 1935 and accepted a post with the Extension Service at Texas A & M a year later. After several years, he resolved to renew his graduate studies, this time at Harvard. September of 1940 found him back in Texas at his job with the extension service. Morgan held an army reserve commission, and in early 1941 was ordered to report for active duty in the Army Air Corps. When the war ended, he returned briefly to Texas A & M, left to pursue a private business undertaking, then accepted a call to become president of Arkansas A & M College. In 1948 Morgan joined the Food and Agricultural Section of the European Recovery Program. It was during his assignment to this post that he received the invitation from Fort Collins to become President at Colorado A & M. Morgan was an experienced administrator, with knowledge of land-grant higher education and a solid background as an agricultural economist. The most pressing problem confronting him when he assumed office was the task of finding adequate income to support the College's operations. He understood that future difficulties could be averted only by long-term planning. Enrollment projections, physical plant requirements, contemplated programs, and fiscal needs were among the matters that received his attention. Morgan met this challenge by actively seeking federally-sponsored contracts and grants, and promoting a strong graduate program in carefully defined fields. Soon the name, Colorado Agricultural and Mechanical College, no longer adequately conveyed the school's true functions and mission. Accordingly, effective May 1, 1957, Colorado A & M became Colorado State University. Morgan thus contributed notably to CSU's emergence as a bonafide university. His farsighted and coherent concept of campus planning resulted in the emergence of vastly expanded modern campus. Moreover, his political skill in dealing with the legislature and in promoting cooperation among the state's institutions of higher learning, his grasp of the importance of contracts and grants research, and his courageous stand in securing a proper library for the school were all reflections of strong and able leadership. During the late 1960s campus unrest-focusing on student rights, civil rights, and Vietnam war opposition-became a major institutional issue. Morgan retired as president effective June 1969. |
Morgan was a native Texan who spent much of his boyhood working on his family's ranch. He enrolled at Texas A & M College with the intention of becoming a Hereford breeder, but soon developed a keen interest in the field of agricultural economics. After obtaining his degree, he became assistant registrar at his alma mater.