Walter Coffey (1876–1956) was the seventh 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. ...

, serving from 1941 to 1945.

Early years

Walter Coffey was raised in Hartsville, Indiana and worked with his father as a sheep herder where he began to grow a strong interest in animal husbandry.

Education and career

Coffey received his initial educational degree from Franklin College and began teaching in Indiana Schools for six years. Following this, Coffey went to the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

and took a position as herdsman. Coffey realized that the university needed somebody to teach sheep raising and took full advantage of this opportunity. He then offered to teach the program and eventually worked his way from a student, to a graduate student, to a professor. During this period of time, Coffey received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees all from the University of Illinois. Prior to becoming the President of the University of Minnesota, he was a Professor of Animal Husbandry there.

References

University of Minnesota Office of the President
1876 births 1976 deaths University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Franklin College (Indiana) alumni Presidents of the University of Minnesota {{US-academic-administrator-1870s-stub