Office of the President (Frederick Meier)

Frederick A. Meier, the seventh President of State State, was born in Bridgeport, CT on December 22, 1910. He attended Boston College, where he received a B.S. in Chemistry in 1932 and an M.S. in 1933. In 1950, he completed his studies for the Ed.D degree at Indiana University.

He began his teaching career as head of the Science Department at Whitman high School . In 1936, he joined the staff at Bridgewater State as Director of Physical Education and Professor of Biology. In 1938, he became Dean of Men. Meier enlisted in the Air Force in 1942 and was comissioned as a second lieutenant; after the war he returned to Bridgewater State.

He was appointed President of the State Teachers College at Salem in 1954. Like colleges around the country, Salem State experienced rapid growth in enrollment, facilities, personnel, and academic programs in the postwar years. The academic changes at Salem were especially notable. The year after Meier arrived, the Division of Graduate Education was established; it offered the M.Ed and Master of Arts in Teaching degrees. In 1956, Salem offered its first alternative to an education degree when it added a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration to the contnuing education curriculum. Salem began to offer the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1964 and quickly developed programs in Biology, Chemistry, Economics, Mathematics, History, and English. Meier also oversaw the development of M.Ed degrees in Elementary Education, Early Childhold Eeducation, reading, Counseling and Guidance, and School Administration.

Meier also initiated a major program in building construction. With the help of federal and state funds, Meier initiated the construction of the Arts and Sciences Building (now Meier Hall), Ellison Campus Center, Bowditch Hall, Peabody Hall, the Administration Building, and the Bell Tower.

Salem State was not immne to the growing student unrest that swept colleges around the country. During the final years of Meier's tenure, controversies over student rights, the dress code, and censorship of the Log erupted. Meier retired from the Presidency in 1970 and returned to teaching as a Professor of Secondary Eeducation at Bridgewater State College. Meier died in 1999.