Walter Hullihen, President of the University of Delaware from 1920-44, received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Virginia in 1896. After earning his Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University in 1900, he entered into several fellowships, before accepting a position as professor of Greek and Latin at the University of Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1904. In 1909, after studying in Europe, he became a Professor at the University of the South, where he later served as the Dean of Arts and Sciences (1912-1920).

Hullihen was directly responsible for facilitating the reorganization of Delaware College and the Women’s College into the University of Delaware, which was first accredited by the Middle States Association in 1921. During his tenure at the University, he served one term as the President of the National Association of State Universities, of which the University of Delaware was a member.

His many achievements include the expansion of the campus between Main Street and the Women’s College, institution of the Foreign Study Plan, and the building of Memorial Library (now Memorial Hall). University Hall, built in 1940 during Hullihen’s administration, the first classroom building to be shared by the Men’s and Women’s Colleges, was renamed Hullihen Hall in 1952.

More about President Walter Hullihen:

President Walter Hullihen's CBS Radio Address, February 27, 1933

"Presidential Profiles" an article from The Messenger

Walter Hullihen by Frank C Bensing

Foreign Study Plan

The University of Delaware: A History by Dr John A Munroe