Marvin Wachman (March 24, 1917 – December 22, 2007), a professor of American history, was president of Lincoln University and

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

, and was interim president of

Albright College Albright College is a private liberal arts college in Reading, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1856 and had an enrollment of 1,652 students as of fall 2023. History Albright College traces its founding to 1856 when "Union Sem ...

and the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science.

Early life and education

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Wachman was the son of migrants from

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

(

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

) and

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

(now in

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

). He attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in history. He received his Ph.D. in history from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

University career

Wachman taught history for 14 years at

Colgate University Colgate University is a Private university, private college in Hamilton, New York, United States. The Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York ...

and was director of the

Salzburg Seminar Salzburg Global (formerly known as Salzburg Global Seminar) is a non-profit organization that convenes programs on its five pillar topics of Peace and Justice, Education, Culture, Health, and Finance and Governance. Programs regularly occur at S ...

in Austria for two years. In 1961, he was asked to become president of Lincoln University, an historically black institution, which was having financial and accreditation problems. He hired new faculty, increased enrollment and raised money to re-establish the university's academic standing. In 1969, he was appointed vice president for academic affairs at Temple University and, in 1973, became president. During his tenure, he founded new campuses in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, and in the Center City of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He retired in 1983 and was president of the

Foreign Policy Research Institute The Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) is an American think tank based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that conducts research on geopolitics, international relations, and international security in the various regions of the world and on eth ...

in Philadelphia from 1983 to 1989. During the 1990s, he was interim president of Albright College in

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; ) is a city in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 95,112 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fourth-most populous ...

, and the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science, now known as Jefferson University. Wachman was the author of ''History of the Social-Democratic Party of Milwaukee, 1897-1910'' (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1945). He published a memoir, ''The Education of a University President'' (Temple University Press), in 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wachman, Marvin Presidents of Temple University Albright College faculty Thomas Jefferson University Northwestern University alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Presidents of Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) Colgate University faculty 1917 births 2007 deaths American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent 20th-century American academics