Owen Meredith Wilson (September 21, 1909 – November 7, 1998) was an American historian and academic administrator. He served as president of the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

from 1954 to 1960 and as president of 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. ...

from 1960 to 1967. The son of Guy C. Wilson and Melissa Stevens, Wilson was born in the Mexican Mormon colony of

Colonia Juárez, Chihuahua Colonia Juárez is a small town in the northern part of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Colonia Juárez is located in the valley of the Piedras Verdes River on the western edge of the Chihuahuan Desert and beneath the eastern front of the Sierr ...

, in 1909. His family was displaced by the Mexican Revolution a few years later and moved to a ranch near the Rio Grande. Wilson attended the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

and

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

. He received a doctorate from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, in 1943. He taught at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

and the University of Utah and researched colonial and revolutionary American history. Wilson became the ninth president of the University of Oregon in 1954. He was credited with intensifying tenure requirements and creating the Institute of Molecular Biology. In 1960, he left Oregon to become the ninth president of the University of Minnesota. Wilson presided over much of the construction of the West Bank campus, though it had been planned previously. Wilson amended the plans, however, to include a major research library on the West Bank, which now is named in his honor. Wilson left the University of Minnesota in 1967 to become director of the

Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) is an interdisciplinary research lab at Stanford University that offers a residential postdoctoral fellowship program for scientists and scholars studying "the five core social and ...

, at Stanford University. Wilson worked as chair of the

American Council on Education The American Council on Education (ACE) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) U.S. higher education association established in 1918. ACE's members are the leaders of approximately 1,700 accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities and higher educatio ...

and headed of the board of

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (informally referred to as the San Francisco Fed) is the federal bank for the twelfth district in the United States. The twelfth district is made up of nine western states—Alaska, Arizona, California, ...

. Wilson died from brain cancer at his Eugene, Oregon home in 1998, seven weeks past his 89th birthday.

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1909 births 1998 deaths 20th-century American historians Historians of the United States Presidents of the University of Minnesota Presidents of the University of Oregon University of Utah alumni Brigham Young University alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Chicago faculty University of Utah faculty American Latter Day Saints Mexican emigrants to the United States People from Colonia Juárez, Chihuahua Deaths from brain cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in Oregon {{US-academic-administrator-1900s-stub