The tradition of inaugurating a new president is a fairly new one here at Towson University given our 150 year history. Part of that may be due to the fact that our first leaders were actually considered principals while the school itself was a teachers’ training school – something more akin to a vocational school.
To celebrate the inauguration of Kim Schatzel as Towson University’s 14th leader, we are looking back at the past leaders of the school. These essays are from a book we helped craft, Towson University: The First 150 Years. Dr. Mary Theresa Wiedefeld’s rise to the position of president of the State Teachers College followed
“The First Annual Faculty Follies will be presented on Tuesday evening”, announced the November 1941 issue of the Towerlight. Faculty members were to present a two-part program, the first of which was a kind of music hall performance with “all the members of the faculty who can be crowded on the stage”. “The second act,” the
Towson University, formerly known as the Maryland State Normal School, the State Teachers College at Towson, Towson State College, and Towson State University, has had thirteen principals and presidents, three interim presidents, and one principal ex officio with founder Libertus Van Bokkelen. The office of Principal/President has had to contend with the same difficulties throughout