Marvin Wachman (March 24, 1917 – December 22, 2007), a professor of American history, was president of Lincoln University and

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

, and served as interim president of

Albright College Albright College is a private liberal arts college in Reading, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1856. History Albright College traces its founding to 1856 when Union Seminary opened. Present-day Albright was formed by the mergers of several ins ...

and the

Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. To signify its heritage, the univer ...

Early life and education

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Marvin Wachman was the son of immigrants from Riga, Latvia, and

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

, presently in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

. He attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in history. He received his Ph.D. in history from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

University career

Wachman taught history for fourteen years at Colgate University, and was director of the

Salzburg Seminar Salzburg Global Seminar is a non-profit organization that challenges current and future leaders to shape a better world. It convenes programs on health care, education, culture, finance, technology, public policy, media, human rights, corporate g ...

in Austria for two years. In 1961 he was asked to become president of Lincoln University, an historically black institution, which was having financial and accreditation problems. He hired new faculty, increased enrollment, and raised money to reestablish the university's academic standing. In 1969 he was appointed vice president for academic affairs at

, and in 1973 became president. During his tenure he founded new campuses in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, and in the Center City of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. He retired in 1983, and served as president of the

Foreign Policy Research Institute The Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) is an American think tank based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that conducts research on geopolitics, international relations, and international security in the various regions of the world as well as ...

in Philadelphia from 1983 to 1989. During the 1990s he served as interim president of

in Reading, Pennsylvania, and the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science, now known as

Philadelphia University Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. To signify its heritage, the univer ...

. Wachman was the author of ''History of the Social-Democratic Party of Milwaukee, 1897-1910'' (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1945). He published a memoir, ''The Education of a University President'' (Temple University Press), in 2005.Severo, "Marvin Wachman."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wachman, Marvin Presidents of Temple University Albright College faculty Thomas Jefferson University Northwestern University alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Presidents of Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) Colgate University faculty 1917 births 2007 deaths American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent 20th-century American academics