Milton S. Eisenhower*

Class of 1952

  • President Pennsylvania State University

Start your life with a good education and you will be successful.

Milton Eisenhower was born in Abilene, Kansas, in 1899. He and his siblings, including older brother Dwight, performed regular chores and found odd jobs in the village. He graduated from Kansas State University (KSU) in 1923 with a bachelor's degree in industrial journalism. While still in college, he was city editor of the Abilene Daily Reflector.

During World War II, Eisenhower was director of the War Relocation Authority. Because of his opposition to mass incarceration, he attempted to mitigate the actions taken against Japanese Americans. He served his country as the U.S. vice consul in Edinburgh, Scotland, and helped reorganize the Department of Agriculture.

In 1943, he returned to his alma mater to serve as KSU president for seven years. In 1950 he became the 11th president of Pennsylvania State College. Eisenhower took the school to university status in 1953. Under his guidance, a school of business administration was established. In 1956, he became president of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. While there, he was responsible for bringing the school's books, journals, and scholarly papers under one roof as the Milton S. Eisenhower Library.