- Phillip Shriver
Phillip Raymond Shriver (born 1922 in
Cleveland, Ohio ) is an Americanhistorian and college administrator who was president ofMiami University from 1965-1981.After graduation from John Adams High School, where he was president and
valedictorian of his class, he received a four-year Cleveland Alumni Scholarship toYale University . At Yale he was elected toPhi Beta Kappa , served as regimental commander of the Naval V-12 unit, and graduated with honors in history. DuringWorld War II he served as a lieutenant (j.g.) aboard a Pacific Fleet destroyer and participated in the Iwo Jima and Okinawa campaigns. After the war he completed his master's degree atHarvard and his doctorate atColumbia University .From 1947-1965 he was a member of the history faculty at
Kent State University where he was initiated intoDelta Upsilon Fraternity as advisor to the Kent chapter. He wrote "Years of Youth" in 1960, a history of Kent State University. He left Kent State in 1965 to became the president of Miami University until 1981. He oversaw enormous growth of Miami and was popular with students who nicknamed him "Uncle Phil". During and after his presidency, he taught popular classes on the history of Miami University and the history of Ohio, usingWalter Havighurst books as texts. His Miami history lectures became the basis of a book "Miami University: A Personal History."In 1983 he was elected president of the Ohio Academy. In 1984 he became the president of the
Ohio Historical Society .Miami University's
student center is named the Phillip R. Shriver Center in his honor.
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