Tresidder, Donald Bertrand, 1894-1948

A Stanford graduate (A.B. 1919, M.D. 1927), Donald Tresidder was President of the Curry Company of Yosemite Park (1925-1948), a member of the Stanford Board of Trustees and its President (1939-1942), and fourth President of Stanford University (1943-1948).

Donald B. Tresidder, President of Stanford University from 1943 to 1948, was President of the Curry Company of Yosemite Park from 1925 to 1948.

Biographical/Historical Sketch

A Stanford graduate (A.B. 1919, M.D. 1927), Donald Tresidder was President of the Curry Company of Yosemite Park (1925-1948), a member of the Stanford Board of Trustees and its President (1939-1942), and fourth President of Stanford University (1943-1948).

Biographical/Historical Sketch

Donald Bertrand Tresidder (April 7, 1894-January 28, 1948) was the fourth president of Stanford University.

Son of Dr. John Treloar Tresidder (from Cornwall), Tresidder was born in Tipton, Indiana. At the age of 20 he took a trip with his sister to Southern California. However, the railroad tracks were washed out and they went to Yosemite Valley instead. There he met many Stanford faculty, who convinced him to enroll in Stanford University.

In Yosemite, Tresidder also met future wife Mary Curry, daughter of the owners of the park concession, Yosemite Park and Curry Company, Tresidder spent summers working in Yosemite as a porter and other various odd jobs. He was briefly fired for taking his future wife rock climbing up the back side of Half Dome. They married June 17, 1920. He earned his M.D. from Stanford Medical School in San Francisco, and became president of Yosemite Park and Curry Company. While attending medical school he was a member of Phi Chi Medical Fraternity.

Dr. Tresidder was president of Stanford University from 1943 until 1948 and brought the school through the difficult years of World War II. He often said that his main job at Stanford was fundraising for the school. Tresidder set up a professional fundraising organization and streamlined administrative and accounting practices. He established a scholarship program and helped established Stanford Research Institute. Tressider also abolished the sorority system on campus. Stanford's student center is named after him.