Jon Michael Wefald (November 24, 1937 – April 16, 2022) was an American educator and served as the twelfth

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

Biography

Wefald was born in Minneapolis and moved, at age six, with his family to

Minot, North Dakota Minot ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, North Dakota, United States, in the state's north-central region. It is most widely known for the Air Force base approximately north of the city. With a population of 48,377 at the 2 ...

. After high school, he attended

Pacific Lutheran University Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) is a Private university, private Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran university in Parkland, Washington. It was founded by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants in 1890. PLU is sponsored by the 580 congreg ...

where he earned a B.A. in

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

in 1959. Wefald then earned his M.A. in history and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from

Washington State University Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest Land-grant uni ...

in 1961, and Ph.D. in history from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 1965.

Career

Early career

In 1965, Wefald returned to

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, taking his first faculty position at

Gustavus Adolphus College Gustavus Adolphus College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in St. Peter, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1862 by Swedish Americans led by Eric Norelius and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Gustavu ...

, where he taught history for five years. From 1971 to 1977, he served as Minnesota's Commissioner of Agriculture, and guest lectured. In 1977, he became President of Southwest State University in

Marshall, Minnesota Marshall is a city in Lyon County, Minnesota, Lyon County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,628 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, and 13,906 as of 2023 estimates. Marshall is a regional center in southwest Minnesota ...

. In 1982, he became a Chancellor of the six state university system of Minnesota.

Kansas State University

In July 1986, Wefald began his service as president of Kansas State University. Wefald held the second-longest term of any Kansas State president, trailing only the 25-year tenure of James McCain. During his tenure at K-State, over of new buildings were built, private giving increased from $6 million a year to nearly $100 million a year, research funding increased from $18 million to $110 million a year, enrollment increased from 17,000 to 23,000, and, finally, K-State students won 125 Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Goldwater, and Udall Scholarships from 1986 to 2008—more than any other public university in America.

Post-retirement

Wefald announced on May 12, 2008, that he would retire at the end of the 2008–2009 academic year. Subsequently, a routine audit performed by the Kansas Board of Regents determined that during Wefald's tenure a total of 13 undocumented payments had been made to former head football Coach Bill Snyder, former athletic director Tim Weiser and Bob Krause, a former vice president and athletic director at the university. Combined, these payments amounted to $845,000. Additionally, a plan was uncovered during the audit to "funnel more than $3 million in deferred compensation to former football coach

Ron Prince Ronald Dale Prince (born September 18, 1969) is an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Kansas State University from 2006 to 2008 and Howard University in 2019, compiling a career college football head coaching record ...

." On May 20, 2009, Kansas State University and its athletic corporation filed suit to have a secret agreement between Prince and Krause declared invalid. Prince filed a lawsuit against the university which included the claim that Wefald and other high-ranking university officials had "actual or constructive knowledge" of the transaction. In May 2011, the lawsuit was settled and Prince received $1.65 million. Wefald denied any knowledge of this secret transaction, attributed the discrepancies to Krause, and immediately called for Krause to resign as director of economic development for the K-State Olathe Innovation Campus, which he did effective on May 20, 2009. In June 2014, the Kansas Board of Regents approved Kansas State University's request to name its new residence hall in Wefald's honor. Construction of Wefald Hall started in the fall of 2014 and was completed in the fall of 2016. In approving the university's request, Regents Chair Fred Logan said, "I think if you look at higher education in Kansas, he (Wefald) was, it's fair to say, a historic figure. He was a historic president."

Honors

*In 2002, Jon Wefald was honored by inclusion in the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame at the Norsk Høstfest. *In 2002, Jon Wefald was honored as Distinguished Kansan by the Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas. *In 2009, Jon Wefald was named Kansan of the Year by the Kansas Society of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

*In 2009, officials at

Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth, Kansas, Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., an ...

honored Jon Wefald with the Department of the Army's Outstanding Civilian Service Medal. *On April 17, 2015, Jon Wefald was initiated into the

Alpha Tau Omega Alpha Tau Omega (), commonly known as ATO, is an American social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook. The fraternity has around 250 active and inactive chapters an ...

fraternity by an Initiation Team of the National Board of Directors and undergraduates from Delta Theta chapter at Kansas State University at the National Board Meeting in Kansas City, Missouri.

Footnotes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wefald, Jon 1937 births 2022 deaths Educators from Minneapolis People from Minot, North Dakota Presidents of Kansas State University Pacific Lutheran University alumni American people of Norwegian descent University of Michigan alumni Academics from Minnesota Academics from North Dakota