John A. Hannah

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This page is about the former president of Michigan State University, for other uses, please see John Hannah.

John A. Hannah (1902-1991) was president of Michigan State College (later Michigan State University) for 28 years, making him the longest serving of MSU's presidents. Hannah was most noted for expanding Michigan State from a respected regional undergraduate-oriented institution into a comprehensive national research university, and for helping to get Michigan State into the Big Ten Conference.

Hannah became president of Michigan State College in 1941. He thus began the largest expansion in the school's history, with the help of the 1945 G.I. Bill, which helped World War II veterans get an education. During this time the university grew by leaps and bounds to accommodate an ever-growing influx of students. One of Hannah's strategies was to build a new residence hall, enroll enough students to fill it, and use the income to start construction on a new dormitory. Under Hannah's plan, enrollment increased from 15,000 in 1950 to 38,000 in 1965.^{[#endnote_enrollmentgrowth]}

While he worked on increasing the size of M.S.C.'s student body, Hannah also expanded the institution from a college of regional reputation into a nationally-recognized research university. When the University of Chicago eliminated its athletics and resigned from what is now the Big Ten Conference in 1946, Hannah lobbied hard to take its place. The Big Ten finally admitted M.S.C. in 1950. Five years later, on the College's centennial year of 1955, the State of Michigan made it a university. Michigan State University continued to expand throughout the 1960s, completing its newest dormitory in 1967. None have been built since.

By 1969, Vietnam-era protests had completely reshaped the university. Hannah resigned amidst protests in 1969. However, his legacy lives on. On February 12, 2005, the 150th anniversary of the school's founding, MSU dedicated a bronze statue of Hannah in front of his namesake administration building.

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