Ernest O. Melby

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Ernest Oscar Melby (August 16, 1891 – January 11, 1987) was a professor, dean, and university president.

Melby assumed the presidency of Montana State University, a post he held from 1941 to 1943 and from 1944 to 1945. In 1943, he was Chancellor of the University of Montana. From 1945 to 1956, Melby served as Dean of New York University’s School of Education. Afterward, he joined the Michigan State University faculty as a Distinguished Professor of Education.

Born in Lake Park, Minnesota, the son of Ole Hanson and Ellen Stakke Melby, Melby received his B.A. from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota in 1913, taught high school briefly, and married Aurora Herbert on December 29, 1914. They had one child, Stanley Herbert Melby.

Melby served as a schools superintendent and attended graduate school at the University of Minnesota to receive his masters and Ph.D. In 1928, he was appointed Assistant Professor of Education at Northwestern University, where he conducted prolific research on the administration of several Illinois school districts, the results of which were published in 1929 and 1930. As a result, he was rapidly promoted to associate professor and professor. In 1934, he was named Dean of the School of Education at Northwestern, a position he held until 1941 when his antagonistic relationship with University President Franklyn Bliss Snyder deteriorated to the point where Melby resigned.