Ralph Dorn Hetzel (December 31, 1882 – October 3, 1947) was the tenth President of the

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

, serving from 1927 until 1947. Prior to that he served as the President of the New Hampshire College, which became the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mo ...

in 1923, under Hetzel's tenure. It was during Hetzel's presidency that Penn State's football program shifted to the oversight of the University, rather than the Board of Athletic Control, run by alumni at the time.

Hugo Bezdek Hugo Francis Bezdek (April 1, 1884 – September 19, 1952) was a Czech American athlete who played American football and was a coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He was the head football coach at the University of Oregon (1906, 1913– ...

, coach of the football team at the time, was unpopular among influential alumni in the Pittsburgh area. Dissatisfied that Bezdek had been unable to defeat long-time rival

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

, the alumni accepted an agreement that would remove him from the head coaching position in exchange for a transfer of control to the Department of Physical Education, which would be elevated to the status of a school (the present-day College of Health and Human Development). The Hetzel Union Building (HUB) at Penn State University and Hetzel St. in State College are named for Hetzel. Hetzel Hall, a dormitory at the University of New Hampshire, is named after him as well.

References

External links

Penn State Presidents and their achievements"Guide to the Ralph D. Hetzel Papers, 1917-1927"
University of New Hampshire Library
Full list of University Presidents (including interim Presidents)
University of New Hampshire Library * 1882 births 1947 deaths People from Merrill, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Presidents of the University of New Hampshire Presidents of Pennsylvania State University 20th-century American academics {{US-academic-administrator-stub