Charles Odegaard

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Charles E. Odegaard (Born on January 10, 1911 in Chicago Heights, Illinois. Died on November 14, 1999 in Seattle, Washington) was the 19th president of the University of Washington from 1958-1973. Odegaard is credited in transforming the University of Washington from an average state university to among the top public universities in the United States.

Odegaard graduated from Dartmouth College in 1932 and received his Master's degree and Ph.D from Harvard University in 1933 and 1937, respectively. He taught history as the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and then took a leave of absence to serve in the Navy during World War II, earning the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Odegaard returned to academia, eventually becoming the Dean of Arts and Sciences at the University of Michigan.

In 1958, Odegaard accepted the presidency of the University of Washington and quickly made changes to remedy the perceived complacency in the university's administration. After six years, only three of the original fifteen deans on board remained when Odegaard arrived. The university witnessed tremendous growth during Odegaard's tenure with the student population growing from 16,000 to 34,000, 35 new buildings (doubling the square footage of the university), increased investment in the medical school, instituted a vision of building a "community of scholars", and oversaw the growth of the operating budget from $37 million USD in 1958 to over $400 million USD in 1973.

On the day of his retirement, 5,000 students crowded into Red Square, the central meeting place of the university, and presented him with a shirt that said, “L'université c'est moi," which means "the University is me" which he quickly dismissed and retorted, “This thing on my back just isn't true—the University is us.”

The Odegaard Library, the undergraduate library at UW is named in his honor.