Central Michigan University Presidents
Prof. Charles F. R. Bellows (1892 - 1896)
![Prof. Charles F. R. Bellows 1892 - 1896](/images/default-source/academic-affairs-division/clarke-historical-library/explore-the-collection/explore-online/cmu-history/administration-and-governance/20210921_cmuhistory_presidents_bellows_00197d2d850-65a4-4b6a-ba58-40f8ff0597eb.jpg?Status=Master&sfvrsn=e0a8e5da_3)
Charles F. R. Bellows (1832-1907) was the first head of Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute in Mount Pleasant (1892-96). Born in Charlestown, New Hampshire in 1832, his family moved to Climax, Michigan in 1837. He received a second class teaching certificate from Michigan State Normal School in Ypsilanti (now Eastern Michigan University) in 1855 and later a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Michigan. In 1867, he entered the faculty of the Michigan State Normal School, where he was a professor of mathematics (1867-91) and acting principal (1870-71). Bellows left Ypsilanti in 1891 and agreed to be the founding principal of the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute University in June of 1892.
Charles McKenny (1896 - 1899)
![Charles McKenny 1896 - 1899](/images/default-source/academic-affairs-division/clarke-historical-library/explore-the-collection/explore-online/cmu-history/administration-and-governance/20210921_cmuhistory_presidents_mckenny_002e6554663-0e58-4fb0-b318-65b111f0e957.jpg?Status=Master&sfvrsn=a060f5de_3)
Charles Grawn (1900 - 1918)
![Charles Grawn 1900 - 1918](/images/default-source/academic-affairs-division/clarke-historical-library/explore-the-collection/explore-online/cmu-history/administration-and-governance/20210921_cmuhistory_presidents_grawn_003aae13167-7458-4d74-810f-3d5cfbc1214b.jpg?Status=Master&sfvrsn=74392a9e_4)
Dr. Eugene Clarence Warriner
(1918 - 1939)
![Dr. Eugene Clarence Warriner 1918 - 1939](/images/default-source/academic-affairs-division/clarke-historical-library/explore-the-collection/explore-online/cmu-history/administration-and-governance/20210921_cmuhistory_presidents_warriner_0041bccdf6a-93a6-49a7-85f5-488cce2d5374.jpg?Status=Master&sfvrsn=1fbc9e0_3)
Dr. Charles L. Anspach (1939 - 1959)
![Dr. Charles L. Anspach 1939 - 1959](/images/default-source/academic-affairs-division/clarke-historical-library/explore-the-collection/explore-online/cmu-history/administration-and-governance/20210921_cmuhistory_presidents_anspach0051468eb3d-5c39-4b32-b749-42510c7e8b04.jpg?Status=Master&sfvrsn=68f65d63_3)
Judson Foust (1959 - 1968)
![Judson Foust 1959 - 1968](/images/default-source/academic-affairs-division/clarke-historical-library/explore-the-collection/explore-online/cmu-history/administration-and-governance/20210921_cmuhistory_presidents_foust_0067f7ff810-eba0-4840-b8e8-48b139b1b5c5.jpg?Status=Master&sfvrsn=c529d6bb_3)
William B. Boyd (1968 - 1975)
![William B. Boyd 1968 - 1975](/images/default-source/academic-affairs-division/clarke-historical-library/explore-the-collection/explore-online/cmu-history/administration-and-governance/20210921_cmuhistory_presidents_boyd_007067257d9-2f40-4bef-aa5a-3d2bcefdc9ee.jpg?Status=Master&sfvrsn=65f0f27d_3)
Dr. Harold Abel (1975 - 1985)
![Dr. Harold Abel 1975 - 1985](/images/default-source/academic-affairs-division/clarke-historical-library/explore-the-collection/explore-online/cmu-history/administration-and-governance/20210921_cmuhistory_presidents_abel008f20ae498-757c-4c4f-a42d-5185ef2644cf.jpg?Status=Master&sfvrsn=4ac81697_3)
Arthur Emmett Ellis (1985 - 1988)
![Arthur Emmett Ellis 1985 - 1988](/images/default-source/academic-affairs-division/clarke-historical-library/explore-the-collection/explore-online/cmu-history/administration-and-governance/20210921_cmuhistory_presidents_ellis_0092a711267-660a-48f7-bbf8-9b937092172b.jpg?Status=Master&sfvrsn=9184d3ea_3)
Arthur Emmet Ellis (1932-2013) was the ninth president at Central (1985-88). Born in Grand Rapids, he obtained a BA in economics from Michigan State University (1958) and an MA in higher education from Eastern Michigan University (1969). Prior to becoming the head of CMU, President Ellis served in the military, worked in the private sector, and worked in State government. In 1968, he began working in higher education at Eastern Michigan University. In 1970, Ellis moved to Central and served as Vice President for Public Affairs (1970-85). He took over as Interim President when Abel resigned in 1985 and was named President in 1986.
Edward B. Jakubauskas (1988 - 1992)
![Edward B. Jakubauskas 1988 - 1992](/images/default-source/academic-affairs-division/clarke-historical-library/explore-the-collection/explore-online/cmu-history/administration-and-governance/20210921_cmuhistory_presidents_jakubauskas_009fc9bb61d-59f1-40b1-b1f5-1b8fb4e46c30.jpg?Status=Master&sfvrsn=a366132_3)
Leonard E. Plachta (1992 - 2000)
![Leonard E. Plachta 1992 - 2000](/images/default-source/academic-affairs-division/clarke-historical-library/explore-the-collection/explore-online/cmu-history/administration-and-governance/20210921_cmuhistory_presidents_plachta_01069779de9-c562-4cad-9354-ea8e03bfa75a.jpg?Status=Master&sfvrsn=4215b481_3)
Michael Rao (2000 - 2009)
![Michael Rao 2000 - 2009](/images/default-source/academic-affairs-division/clarke-historical-library/explore-the-collection/explore-online/cmu-history/administration-and-governance/20210921_cmuhistory_presidents_rao_011702d561d-71a8-41b3-a68b-d26db5721055.jpg?Status=Master&sfvrsn=6801453a_3)
Kathy Wilbur (2009 - 2010)
![Kathy Wilbur 2009 - 2010](/images/default-source/academic-affairs-division/clarke-historical-library/explore-the-collection/explore-online/cmu-history/administration-and-governance/20210921_cmuhistory_presidents_wilbur_0122bf699c4-06dd-4def-8568-22a66e36fcb4.jpg?Status=Master&sfvrsn=66a20be0_3)
George Ross (2010 - 2018)
![George Ross 2010 - 2018](/images/default-source/academic-affairs-division/clarke-historical-library/explore-the-collection/explore-online/cmu-history/administration-and-governance/20210921_cmuhistory_presidents_ross_0138ae52328-ca7c-46d3-87d2-af8fb1c993d3.jpg?Status=Master&sfvrsn=5bc15d31_3)
Robert Davies (2018 - Present)
![Robert Davies 2018 - Present](/images/default-source/academic-affairs-division/clarke-historical-library/explore-the-collection/explore-online/cmu-history/administration-and-governance/20210921_cmuhistory_presidents_davies_01480c56d93-959d-458b-809c-46bb3b6d6379.jpg?Status=Master&sfvrsn=f15f9ee0_3)
Robert O. Davies is the fifteenth president of Central Michigan University. He began his tenure on September 1, 2018. Prior to his appointment as CMU's president, Davies served as the President at Murray State University in Kentucky (2014-18).
Davies earned a B.S. in management from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1991, an M.B.A in finance and marketing from the University of Oregon, and a Ph.D. in higher education administration from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 2005.
In addition to his time at Murray State, Davies has served as president of Eastern Oregon University and vice president for university relations at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He also had alumni relations and development positions at The State University of New York at Buffalo, Boise State University, and the University of Nevada, Reno.