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Past Presidents

NCA has been led by the discipline’s finest teachers and scholars whose vision and dedication shaped the mission, as well as the spirit, of the organization. 

In order to recover and preserve major interpretations of NCA’s historical experience and events, NCA offers this evolving collection of biographies of its past presidents. These biographies capture NCA history through the eyes of those who experienced it and understood events as they unfolded.

We have not yet been able to collect all the biographies for the past presidents. There is an ongoing effort to gather and write biographies for each one. Additional biographies are forthcoming.  

 

1915 J.M. O’Neill,* University of Wisconsin
1916 J.A. Winans,* Cornell University
1917 J.L. Lardner,* Northwestern University
1918 H.S. Woodward,* Western Reserve University
1919 H.S. Woodward,* Western Reserve University
1920 C.H. Woolbert,* University of Illinois
1921 A.M. Drummond,* Cornell University
1922 Glenn N. Merry,* University of Iowa
1923 Harry B. Gough,* Depauw University
1924 Wilber Jones Kay,* West Virginia University
1925 Ray K. Immel,* University of Southern California
1926 E.C. Mabie,* University of Iowa
1927 Andrew T. Weaver,* University of Wisconsin
1928 John P. Ryan,* Grinnell College
1929 F.M. Rarig,* University of Minnesota
1930 John Dolman,* Jr., University of Pennsylvania
1931 Clarence T. Simon,* Northwestern University
1932 Henrietta Prentiss,* Hunter College
1933 Lee Emerson Bassett,* Leland Stanford University
1934  H.L. Ewbank,* University of Wisconsin
1935  Arleigh B. Williamson,* New York University
1936 Maud May Babcock,* University of Utah
1937 Herbert A. Wichelns,* Cornell University
1938 J.T. Marshman,* Ohio Wesleyan University
1939 A. Craig Baird,* University of Iowa
1940 Alan H. Monroe,* Purdue University
1941 W. Hayes Yeager,* George Washington University
1941 Honorary President Thomas C. Trueblood,* University of Michigan
1942 Claude M. Wise,* Louisiana State University
1943 Robert West,* University of Wisconsin
1944 Bower Aly,* University of Missouri
1945 Joseph F. Smith,* University of Utah
1946 W. Norwood Brigance,* Wabash College
1947 Magdalene Kramer,* Columbia University
1948 Rupert Cortright,* Wayne State University
1949 J.H. McBurney,* Northwestern University
1950 Horace G. Rahskopf,* University of Washington
1951 Wilber Gilman,* Queens College
1952 Lionel Crocker,* Denison University
1953 H.P. Constans,* University of Florida
1954 Karl R. Wallace,* University of Illinois
1955 Thomas A. Rousse,* University of Texas
1956 Lester Thonssen,* College of the City of New York
1957 Loren Reid, University of Missouri
1958 Elise Hahn,* University of California
1959 John E. Dietrich,* Ohio State University
1960 Kenneth G. Hance,* Michigan State University
1961 Ralph G. Nichols, University of Minnesota
1962 Waldo W. Braden,* Louisiana University
1963 Ernest J. Wrage,* Northwestern State University
1964 Robert T. Oliver*, Penn State University
1965 J. Jeffery Auer, Indiana University
1966 John W. Black,* Ohio State University
1967 Wayne C. Minnick, Florida State University
1968 Douglas Ehninger,* University of Iowa
1969 Marie Hochmuth Nichols,* University of Illinois
1970 Donald C. Bryant,* University of Iowa
1971 William S. Howell,* University of Minnesota
1972 Theodore Clevenger, Jr.,* Florida State University
1973 Robert C. Jeffrey,* University of Texas
1974 Samuel L. Becker,* University of Iowa
1975 Herman Cohen, Penn State University
1976 Lloyd F. Bitzer, University of Wisconsin
1977 Wallace A. Bacon,* Northwestern University
1978 Jane Blankenship, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
1979 Ronald R. Allen, University of Wisconsin
1980 Malcolm O. Sillars, University of Utah
1981 Anita Taylor, George Mason University
1982 Frank E.X. Dance, University of Denver
1983 Kenneth E. Andersen, University of Illinois
1984 John Waite Bowers, University of Iowa
1985 Beverly Whitaker Long, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
1986 Wayne Brockriede,* California State University, Fullerton**
1987 Patti P. Gillespie, University of Maryland
1988 Michael M. Osborn, Memphis State University
1989 Gustav W. Friedrich, University of Oklahoma
1990 Mark L. Knapp, University of Texas
1991 Dennis Gouran, Penn State University
1992 Dale Leathers,* University of Georgia
1993 David Zarefsky, Northwestern University
1994 Bruce E. Gronbeck, University of Iowa
1995 Sharon A. Ratliffe, Golden West College
1996 James W. Chesebro, Indiana State University
1997 Judith S. Trent, University of Cincinnati
1998 John A. Daly, University of Texas, Austin
1999 Orlando L. Taylor, Howard University
2000 Raymie E. McKerrow, Ohio University
2001 James L. Applegate, University of Kentucky
2002 V. William Balthrop, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
2003 Judy C. Pearson, North Dakota State University
2004 Isa N. Engleberg, Prince George’s Community College
2005 Martha Watson, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
2006 H. Dan O'Hair, University of Oklahoma
2007 J. Michael Sproule, St. Louis University
2008 Arthur P. Bochner, University of South Florida
2009 Betsy Wackernagel Bach, University of Montana, Missoula
2010 Dawn O. Braithwaite, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
2011 Lynn Turner, Marquette University

 

 

*Deceased
**But for his untimely death, Donald Ecroyd, Temple University, would have succeeded to the presidency in 1986.