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7 books match the query 'Michigan State University'

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A Memoir

John A. Hannah

Michigan State University Press, 1980

This is a very personal look at the growth and evolution of Michigan State University, as seen from the eyes of its dynamic president. As twelfth president of Michigan State University, John Alfred Hannah served from July 1, 1941, to April 1, 1969. His tenure was characterized by extensive growth of the University, in both size and enrollments. President Hannah's activities were not limited to the University, as he filled a variety of positions in both the federal government and private industry.

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Duffy Daugherty

A Man Ahead of His Time

David Claerbaut

Michigan State University Press, 2018

This is the story of Duffy Daugherty—humorist, trailblazer, raconteur, and Hall of Fame football coach—arguably the most famous figure in the storied history of Michigan State University football. Daugherty’s nineteen-year tenure at MSU was marked by great success. Between 1955 and 1966, eight Spartan teams finished in the Associated Press top ten college football teams. Daugherty was a character. With his zany wit putting him in demand as a public speaker, Daugherty became so well known for his winning teams and quotable comments that he adorned the cover of the October 8, 1956, issue of Time magazine. Daugherty was a major figure in bringing African American athletes into the mainstream of college sports. From his arrival at MSU, he worked to field integrated teams. His undefeated 1966 powerhouse squad—one that played Notre Dame to an unforgettable 10–10 tie in the season finale—included four black players selected among the first eight players taken in the NFL draft. MSU memorialized Daugherty by naming the football team’s practice facility the Duffy Daugherty Football Building in his honor.

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Forever in the Path

The Black Experience at Michigan State University

Pero G Dagbovie

Michigan State University Press, 2025

Forever in the Path: The Black Experience at Michigan State University offers a sweeping overview of the Black experience at America’s first agricultural college from the 1890s through the late twentieth century. In exploring the personalities, important events, and key turning points of Black life at the university, this book deftly blends intellectual history, social history, educational history, institutional history, and the African American biographical tradition. Pero G. Dagbovie depicts and imagines how his numerous subjects’ upbringings and experiences at the institution informed their futures, and how they benefitted from and contributed to MSU’s vision, mission, and transformative role in the history of higher education.
Michigan State University—founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan—has a fascinating past, a history shaped by vacillating local and national contexts as well as by people from different walks of life. The first Black students arrived on campus during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the first full-time Black faculty member was hired in the late 1940s. Before and after the modern Civil Rights Movement, African Americans from various backgrounds were transformed by MSU while also profoundly contributing in vital ways to the institution’s growth and evolving identity.

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MSU Campus—Buildings, Places, Spaces

Architecture and the Campus Park of Michigan State University

Linda O. Stanford

Michigan State University Press, 2002

Since its founding in 1855, Michigan State University has emerged from its modest “oak opening” in the wilderness to become a large campus park. This story reflects the commitment of campus leaders since the nineteenth century to develop MSU as a beautiful and educational public resource, as well as a demonstration model, befitting the premier land-grant institution in the United States.
    From early landscape gardeners influenced by Ossian Simonds and the nationally known Olmsted Brothers, to the vision of President John Hannah, the consistent intent has been to interrelate architecture and the campus park. The result is a campus whose development reflects major trends in American architecture and whose contributors include local, regional, and nationally known architectural firms. In MSU Campus—Buildings, Places, Spaces, two Michigan State University professors provide a history and way of seeing the campus by offering eight areas to explore.
     Each area includes selected historical sites or markers, public art, and natural locations that complement more than one hundred extant buildings, complete with individual stylistic and historical descriptions and photographs. Historical facts about Michigan State University, suggestions for further reading, and an ample glossary of architectural terms make this book a resource for anyone who is interested in Michigan State University, art and architectural history, Michigan history, and visual culture.
     The book will continue to serve as a documentary reminder of MSU’s heritage and vital institutional future long after the 2005 sesquicentennial.

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Michigan State University

The Rise of a Research University and the New Millennium, 1970-2005

Douglas A. Noverr

Michigan State University Press, 2015

In the 1960s and ’70s, Michigan State College transformed into the major research institution known today as Michigan State University, a true “megaversity.” Michigan State University, the final volume of this trilogy, explores the history of that transformation and the growing pains the school endured as it became a part of the Association of American Universities. From President John A. Hannah’s vision, the new university has been defined by rapid expansion, growth, new opportunities, and the occasional crisis. Its development has been a massive undertaking that marshaled individuals, research interests, federal funds, state appropriations, and more.
Through the vicissitudes of government funding and other challenges, the university has established itself as a renowned research and educational institution with a remarkably rich array of facilities, scientists, and researchers who continue to make landmark contributions to their fields. At the same time it has strived to be known for its accessibility, diversity, equality of opportunity, and antidiscrimination policies and practices. Michigan State University sheds new light on the growth of this dynamic and multifaceted institution.

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The Test

Walter Adams

Michigan State University Press, 2003

World renowned economist and president of Michigan State University, Walter Adams first published The Test in 1971, a year after his tenure as university president ended. Adams recounts the tumultuous nine months of his office: as the first university president to follow the legendary John Hannah, Adams inherited the unease and resentments that had been quietly swelling under seemingly calm administrative waters.
These resentments, coupled with the increased social awareness generated by sixties activism combined in an explosive protest during the fall of 1969. With gripping honesty and clarity, The Test not only chronicles the events, but offers an indictment of those institutional structures that ignored very real social concerns in favor of esoteric academic pursuits. By examining the perspectives of all the participants, Adams presents new directions for the growth and development of university communities. Both a thoughtful analysis and eyewitness account, The Test presents invaluable documentary evidence of one of the most dynamic periods in American history.

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