# Millersville University of Pennsylvania

Millersville University of Pennsylvania (commonly known as Millersville University, The Ville, or MU) is a public university in Millersville, Pennsylvania. It is one of the ten schools that comprise the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). Founded in 1855 as the first Normal School in Pennsylvania, Millersville is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
First established in 1854 as the Millersville Academy out of the since-demolished Old Main, the academy specialized in a series of workshop-style teacher institutes in response to the 1834 Free School Act of Pennsylvania.

## History

Millersville University was established in 1855 as the "Lancaster County Normal School", the first state normal school in Pennsylvania. It subsequently changed its name to "Millersville State Normal School" in 1859 and Millersville later became a state teachers' college in 1927. It was renamed "Millersville State College" in 1959 and officially became the Millersville University of Pennsylvania in 1983.
In November 1852, the Lancaster County Educational Association met in Strasburg to form an institute for teacher training. The first institute, which led to the Lancaster County Normal School and received significant support from Thomas H. Burrowes, was held in January 1853. While the Association was working to organize, Lewis M. Hobbs, a popular teacher of the Manor district, lobbied heavily in Manor township for a more permanent training facility for teachers. Jacob Shenk, a local farmer, donated a tract of five acres (the present-day site of Ganser Library, Biemesderfer Executive Center, and Dutcher Hall) with Hobbs collecting investments from local residents. On April 17, 1855, Lancaster County Normal School opened with James P. Wickersham as principal and a peak of 147 teachers in attendance. The school president was Thomas H. Burrowes and the vice president was Lewis M. Hobbs. November 5, 1855, marked the start of the first full session, with a new expansion of the original Academy building that made 96 rooms available for nearly 200 students and their teachers.
Completed in 1894, the Biemesderfer Executive Center, also known as the Old Library, is the centerpiece of Millersville University's campus. The executive committee of the Board of Trustees designated $27,500 for the construction of the library in 1891, with the contract awarded to Lancastrian D.H. Rapp, who submitted the lowest bid in a blind auction.
The Millersville University Library is housed in Ganser Hall. In September 2011, the university closed Ganser Hall for two years for renovations. On August 26, 2013, the Ganser Library reopened as the McNairy Library and Learning Forum at Ganser Hall.
In August 2021, a Millersville student by the name of Matthew Mindler was reported dead. He had been reported missing after not showing up for classes, and having cut off contact with his family. His body was found in Manor Township, Pennsylvania, near the Millersville campus. He was a 19-year-old freshman, and had been a child actor in the past, starring in the film "Our Idiot Brother". His death was ruled a suicide.

### School principals

* John Fair Stoddard (1855–1856)
* James Pyle Wickersham (1856–1866)
* Edward Brooks (1866–1883)
* Benjamin Franklin Shaub (1883–1887)
* Eliphalet Oram Lyte (1887–1912)
* Peter Monroe Harbold (1912–1918)
* Charles H. Gordinier (1918–1928)

### College/university presidents

* Charles H. Gordinier (1928–1929)
* Landis Tanger (1929–1943)
* D. Luke Biemesderfer (1943–1965)
* Robert A. Christie (1965–1968)
* William H. Duncan (1968–1981)
* Joseph A. Caputo (1981–2003)
* Francine G. McNairy (2003–2013)
* John M. Anderson (2013–2018)
* Daniel A. Wubah (2018–)

## Campus
### Lombardo Welcome Center

On August 29, 2015, local community members Samuel and Dena Lombardo announced a gift to Millersville University for the creation of the university's new Welcome Center and the first state-of-the-art Net-Zero energy building on campus. This building, named the Lombardo Welcome Center, opened in January 2018. Equipped with solar panels, state-of-the-art energy-efficient glass, and an interior design inspired by feng shui principles, the Lombardo Welcome Center will produce as much energy as it consumes. On the grounds of former Hull Hall, the Lombardo Welcome Center houses the offices of Admissions, Housing & Residential Life, University Marketing and Communications, and the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs & Enrollment Management.

### Francine G. McNairy Library & Learning Forum

Originally built from 1965 to 1967 on the grounds of Old Main, the Helen Ganser Library closed its doors in 2011 for an extensive 2-year renovation project and re-opened in 2013 as the Francine G. McNairy Library & Learning Forum. The entire complex is named after Millersville's 13th President, Dr. Francine McNairy, who began her career at Millersville first as Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs before becoming president in 2003. Ganser Hall, named for Helen A. Ganser (1911–1952), librarian and head of the Library Science Department, is the 9-story building that houses the university's academic collection. Serving as the academic heart of campus for over 40 years, Ganser Hall began with the two famous "Bookwalks" of 1967.

## Performing arts

Millersville's Office of Visual and Performing Arts manages two performing arts centers in Lancaster County: The Ware Center and Winter Visual & Performing Arts Center.

### Winter Visual & Performing Arts Center

Built as an expansion of Lyte Auditorium in Alumni Hall, the new Charles R. and Anita B Winter Visual and Performing Arts Center has a new entrance off Cottage Avenue in Millersville. The grand opening occurred on Friday, October 12, 2012, after two years of renovations to the original structure, Lyte Auditorium. Named for local philanthropist Charles Winter, whose daughters are both Millersville graduates, The new Visual and Performing Arts Center, a $26 million construction and renovation project, enhances the original 29,041-square-foot building of 700 seats with a 59,452-square-foot addition. Part of the university's master plan to effectively use and reuse existing land, facilities, and infrastructure, the new Winter Visual & Performing Arts Center houses features a concert hall, recital hall, performance hall, classrooms, a recording studio, piano lab, a music library, faculty offices and more. Known by students as the VPAC (for Visual and Performing Arts Building), other features of the state-of-the-art building are a scenery shop, soundproof classrooms, several sitting areas, a music library and approximately 20 Soundlok rooms, which are modular sound-isolation rooms for practicing.

### The Ware Center

The Ware Center is a performing arts center in Lancaster, PA and the Lancaster city campus of Millersville University. Located on North Prince Street at the end of Lancaster's Gallery Row, the center is part of the Millersville University's Department of Visual & Performing Arts. Originally designed by architect Philip Johnson, the $32 million building opened in 2008 as the home of the now defunct Pennsylvania Academy of Music. Since 2010, it has hosted classes for nearly 1,000 Millersville University students during Fall and Spring semesters. Various art exhibits and live performances are held at this venue throughout the year, and the facility can be rented out as a private event venue and banquet hall.

## Academics
### Degree programs and certifications

According to the 2020-2021 undergraduate course catalog Millersville University offers:
* 150+ bachelor's degree programs
According to the Graduate and Professional Studies program finder, Millersville University offers 74 graduate programs:
* 3 doctoral degree programs
* 25 master's degree programs
* 46 certificates and certifications

### Colleges

* College of Science and Technology
* College of Education and Human Services
* College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
* The Lombardo College of Business
* College of Graduate Studies and Adult Learning
* Honors College
* The Tell School of Music

## Athletics

Millersville University sponsors 19 intercollegiate varsity sports which compete in NCAA Division II.

### Intramural and club teams

* Ice hockey club (D2) established 1978
* Ice hockey club (D3) established 2021
* Men's & women's rugby
* Men's club lacrosse
* Men's and women's cycling club
* Men's running club (previously men's cross country – 1981 Division II national champions) (and track & field)
* Men's Club Basketball (established 2021)
* Women's Club Basketball (established 2024)

#### Notes

* ↑ (for rivalry information, see Rupp Cup)
* ↑ 2014 Division II national champions Golf
* ↑ 1982 AIAW Division III national champion

## Notable alumni
### Art and literature

* Joseph Berg Esenwein, an American editor, lecturer and writer
* James Hoch (poet), an American poet
* Jesse Krimes, artist
* Michael Lavigne, an American author
* Lawrence Nowlan (B.A. 1987), sculptor, designer of the ESPN Espy Award
* Silvia Vasquez-Lavado, global explorer, mountaineer and author
* Constantina Zavitsanos, a conceptual artist

### Business and industry

* John Francis Carroll, a newspaper publisher and editor
* Clair McCollough, an American broadcasting executive

### Education

* Gertrude I. Johnson (1895), co-founder of Johnson and Wales University
* Donald Kraybill, educator and author on Anabaptists, in particular the Amish
* Eliphalet Oram Lyte, teacher for Millersville and wrote modern "Row Row Row Your Boat"
* Benjamin Franklin Shaub, an American educator and businessman
* Patricia Snyder, an American sociologist
* Jim Testerman, labor leader and former president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association
* Mary T. Wales (1893), co-founder of Johnson and Wales University

### Entertainment and media

* Black Thought, lead MC of The Roots from Philadelphia (currently the house band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon)
* Nicole Brewer, 2005 Miss Pennsylvania, TV news reporter and anchor for KYW-TV in Philadelphia
* Matthew Knisely, an American TV Photojournalist and an American author
* Malik B of The Roots from Philadelphia (currently the house band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon)
* Bob Van Dillen, morning meteorologist, for CNN Headline News

### Politics, government, and military

* Guy K. Bard, a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
* Joseph Franklin Biddle, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
* Scott W. Boyd, a former Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
* Marriott Henry Brosius, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
* Andrew Cassilly, a senior advisor to Maryland governor Larry Hogan
* Scott D. Conn, a retired United States Navy vice admiral
* Judith Nelson Dilday, an American lawyer and the first person of color appointed as a judge of the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court
* Paul Evanko, former commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police
* Robert E. Evans, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Nebraska
* Mindy Fee, a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
* D. Newlin Fell, a former justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
* Wendy Fink, a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
* Justin C. Fleming, a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
* William Walton Griest, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
* Jordan A. Harris, a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
* Umar Johnson (also known simply as Dr. Umar), an American Black activist, psychologist, and motivational speaker
* Chris King, a former Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
* Don Kilhefner, an LGBTQ rights activist, community organizer, and Jungian psychologist
* Diane Koken, an American legal and regulatory consultant
* H. Craig Lewis, a former Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate
* Scott Martin, a Republican member of the Pennsylvania State Senate
* John Merriman Reynolds, lawyer, publisher and politician from the state of Pennsylvania
* John A. Schlegel, a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
* Meghan Schroeder, a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
* Jere Schuler, a former Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
* William Preston Snyder (1851–1920), president pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate and Pennsylvania Auditor General
* Bob Walker (Pennsylvania politician), former Republican member of United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
* Robert Smith Walker, former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
* Gregory B. Williams, a United States district judge of United States District Court for the District of Delaware
* Jacob Zern, an American physician, judge, and politician who served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and Pennsylvania State Senate

### Science and medicine

* Brian Axsmith, paleobotanist
* Ward V. Evans, a chemist who served as a professor at Northwestern University and Loyola University Chicago
* Elizabeth H. Field, physician, immunologist, professor, College of Medicine, University of Iowa
* R. William Field, PhD, public health researcher and educator, College of Public Health, University of Iowa
* Jose Dolores Fuentes, a meteorologist at Pennsylvania State University
* Hugh Herr, PhD, Associate Professor, Head of Biomechatronics Research Group at Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
* J. Richard Landis, an American biostatistician
* Bruce M. McLaren, an American researcher, scientist and author
* Lilian Welsh, an American physician, educator, suffragist, and advocate for women's health

### Religion

* Marie Kachel Bucher, last surviving resident member of the German Seventh-Day Baptists religious congregation of the Ephrata Cloister
* Margaret Catherine Alice Hyson, missionary
* Elizabeth Reifsnyder, missionary
* Astor C. Wuchter, pastor

### Sports

* Rick Comegy, baseball coach
* Dondre Gilliam, football player
* Christ Johnson, football player
* Jack Kiefer, golfer
* Will Lewis, football player
* Tim Mayza, baseball player
* Chas McCormick, baseball player
* Ashley Moyer-Gleich, basketball referee
* Nate Mulberg, baseball coach
* Elijah Obade, basketball player
* Robb Riddick, football player
* Sean Scott, football player
* Jim Todd, MLB baseball player
* Phil Walker, basketball player
* Danyelle Wolf, boxer

## Gallery

* Pond
* Biemesderfer main entrance
* The oculus of Biemesderfer
* Swans at the Millersville University pond
* The South Village Suites Collection of Dormitories
* The Civil War Memorial in front of Biemesderfer
* Gordinier Hall as viewed from Millersville's quad