William Samuel Carlson (November 18, 1905 – May 8, 1994) was a 20th-century academic administrator who served as president of four universities. Carlson was born in

Ironwood, Michigan Ironwood is a city in Gogebic County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, about south of Lake Superior. The city is on US Highway 2 across the Montreal River from Hurley, Wisconsin. It is the westernmost city in Michigan ...

and earned bachelor's (1930), master's (1932) and Ph.D. (1938) degrees from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. Carlson participated in the University of Michigan

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

Expedition of 1928–1929 and led the fourth University of Michigan Greenland Expedition in 1930–1931. After completing his education, he joined the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

as an assistant professor of education, eventually becoming a full professor and dean of admissions and records. He served in the Air Force during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, building air bases in Canada, Greenland, and Iceland for transport to Britain. After the war, he assumed the presidencies of the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 ma ...

, the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the United ...

, and the State University of New York in rapid succession. He undertook his longest Presidency at the

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of ...

, from which he retired after 14 years. Carlson succumbed to lung cancer in

Belleair Bluffs, Florida Belleair Bluffs is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The population was 2,031 at the 2010 census. Geography Belleair Bluffs is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which ...

. The main library on the University of Toledo campus is named after him.

Selected works

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References

External links

''Northern Lights'' Manuscript
at Dartmouth College Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Carlson, William S. 1905 births 1994 deaths People from Ironwood, Michigan Chancellors of the State University of New York Presidents of the University of Delaware University of Michigan alumni University of Minnesota faculty Presidents of the University of Toledo Presidents of the University of Vermont United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II 20th-century American academics