About Herman B Wells
Herman B Wells (June 7, 1902 – March 18, 2000), a native of Boone County, Indiana, was the eleventh president of Indiana University Bloomington and its first university chancellor. He was pivotal in the transformation of Indiana University from a small, locally oriented college into a world-class institution of higher learning through expanded enrollment, recruitment of new faculty, construction of new buildings, new program offerings, and campus beautification projects. He remained steadfast in his support of IU's faculty and students, especially in the areas of academic freedom and civil rights. Wells began his career in banking, but served the university in a variety of faculty and administrative capacities during his seventy-year career at Indiana University Bloomington: instructor and assistant professor, department of economics (1930–35; dean and professor of administration, school of business administration (1935–37); acting president (1937–38); and president (1938–62). He gave up control in 1962 to become university chancellor (1962–2000); interim president (1968); and chairman of the board of the Indiana University Foundation (1969–72), as well as other leadership roles at the Indiana University Foundation. Wells was inaugurated on December 1, 1938, as the youngest state university president in the nation. In addition to working for the IBA, Wells became an instructor in IU's Department of Economics and Sociology in 1930. In 1935 IU's president, William Lowe Bryan, appointed Wells as dean of the School of Business Administration, which later became the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.