Biographical Note
Dr. Hardy, a native of Michigan, moved to San Diego in 1906, and served for four years as principal of San Diego High School before serving as San Diego State's president from 1910-1935. Hardy and others induced the California state legislature to expand the program of the normal schools from two to four years and to change the name to state teachers colleges. These changes and the need to fill a four-year curriculum brought about doubled enrollments and a larger faculty. With this growth, the student body outgrew the capacity of the downtown campus, and President Hardy oversaw planning and construction of a new campus which was occupied in 1931. By the time of his retirement in 1935, the number of faculty had grown to 60 and the student enrollment to 1286.
From the guide to the Edward Lawyer Hardy Memorial Collection, 1910-1951, (Special Collections & University Archives: Finding Aid Database)
