Leigh S.J. Hunt

1855-1933; president 1885-86

An Indiana native, Hunt had headed school systems in several Iowa communities and was superintendent of East Des Moines Independent School District at the time of his appointment as president of Iowa State.

Only 29, Hunt lacked the maturity and educational background the office required. But following his troubled term, he achieved spectacular successes as a journalist and banker in the Pacific Northwest, gold miner in Korea, cotton grower in Sudan and promoter of irrigation homesteads in Nevada.

ISU presidents index.