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Alice B. Cowles House (formerly Faculty Row House Number 7) is a structure on the campus of
Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...
. It is the oldest extant building on MSU's campus, though only the foundation and two exterior walls remain from the original 1857 construction. Originally built to house
faculty Faculty may refer to: * Faculty (academic staff), the academic staff of a university (North American usage) * Faculty (division) A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject ...
before the founding of what is now
East Lansing East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County. At the 2020 Census the population was 47,741. Located directly east of the state capital ...
, Number 7's earliest residents were presidents Joseph R. Williams and T. C. Abbot. When a new president's house was built at Faculty Row Number 1 (no longer standing), Number 7 became the residence of the Professor of Botany;
William J. Beal William James Beal (March 11, 1833 – May 12, 1924) was an American botanist. He was a pioneer in the development of hybrid corn and the founder of the W. J. Beal Botanical Garden. Biography Beal was born in Adrian, Michigan, to William an ...
and his family lived here for 39 years. As East Lansing grew and professors moved away from Faculty Row, the house served several purposes over the years, including offices for the Education Department and as a women's
dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or universi ...
. It has been the official president's residence since 1941, beginning with President
John A. Hannah John Alfred Hannah (October 9, 1902 – February 23, 1991) was president of Michigan State College (later Michigan State University) for 28 years (1941–1969), making him the longest serving of MSU's presidents. He is credited with transformin ...
, who had the house extensively remodeled to suit this purpose. A 1950 renovation funded by alumnus Frederick Cowles Jenison resulted in the house being named for Jenison's mother, Alice B. Cowles. (Jenison's grandfather, Albert Cowles, had been a student in the school's first class and had helped haul the bricks during the original construction.) After Hannah, three presidents have chosen not to live in the house: Walter Adams during his nine months as Acting President in 1969 and 1970,
Lou Anna Simon Lou Anna Kimsey Simon is an American academic administrator who served as the 20th president of Michigan State University (MSU). Simon was appointed interim president of the university in 2003, then served as president from 2005 until her resigna ...
from 2005 to 2018, and Satish Udpa during his eight months as acting president in 2019. All three preferred to remain in their East Lansing homes, and instead used Cowles House primarily for formal entertaining and other official university functions. The house was being renovated during most of Udpa's tenure.


References

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External links


Michigan Historical Markers — Cowles House
* ttp://kevinforsyth.net/ELMI/cowles.htm M.A.C. — Faculty Row No. 7br>M.A.C. — Faculty Row
{{Michigan State University Michigan State University campus Michigan State Historic Sites in Ingham County 1857 establishments in Michigan Houses completed in 1857