John W. Harrelson

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John William Harrelson was born in Cleveland County, North Carolina, USA, in 1885. He was educated at North Carolina State University, where he earned a B.A. in engineering in 1909 and an M.S. in mechanical engineering in 1915.

Harrelson became an instructor of mathematics at N.C. State in 1909, he later became a professor. In 1929 he was appointed by Governor O. Max Gardner to head the State Department of Conservation and Development. He left the office in 1933 to head the Department of Mathematics at N.C. State.

In 1934 Harrelson was appointed as the first dean of administration at N.C. State; the school's sixth chief executive and the first alumunus to lead the school. His title was changed to chancellor in 1945; he retired from office in 1953. Harrelson was at the helm of the university during World War II and oversaw the establishment of the School of Design and the School of Forestry.

Harrelson died in Raleigh in 1955. N.C. State's Harrelson Hall was later named in his memory.