Beardshear, William Miller, 1850-1902.

William Miller Beardshear was born in Ohio and served in the Civil War. He studied for the ministry at Otterbein College and Yale Divinity School and filled several pastorates before coming to Iowa in 1881 as the President of Western College in Toledo. In 1889, he was appointed Superintendent of Schools in Des Moines and in 1891, Beardshear was appointed President of Iowa State in Ames, Iowa. He developed new agricultural programs, expanded the campus, and hired new faculty. He died suddenly in 1902. ISU's central administrative building is named in his honor (1925). State is named in his honor (1925).