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SESQUICENTENNIAL
STORIES OF KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY
JOHN S. ERMENTROUT
Principal, Keystone State Normal School,
1866-1871
As superintendent of schools for Berks
County, Ermentrout was instrumental
in the placement of Keystone State
Normal School at its current site. He
laid the cornerstone for the original
Old Main in 1865 when it was called
Maxatawny Seminary. Ermentrout
served as trustee and principal until
1871 when he returned to the pulpit as a local pastor. In 1873
he returned to KSNS as the chair of mental and moral science
and English literature. He passed away in 1881.
ABRAHAM R. HORNE
Principal, Keystone State Normal School,
1872-1877
Born in 1834, Horne was known for
preaching to other children and being
an avid reader as a child. He began his
teaching career at age 16 and by age
24 was serving as principal of Bucks
County Normal and Classical School
of Quakertown, Pa. He went on to
serve as superintendent of schools
at Williamsport and in 1872 was elected principal of KSNS,
where he led the school through a period of growth and pros-
perity until he left in 1877. Horne passed away in 1902.
NATHAN C. SCHAEFFER
Principal, Keystone State Normal School, 1877-1893
Born in 1849, Schaeffer was the first student to attend the
Maxatawny Seminary, graduating in 1865. He went on to
graduate from Franklin and Marshall College and returned
to KSNS in 1871. Aside from brief interruptions to attend
Mercersburg College and to study in Europe, Schaeffer spent
his early career teaching at KSNS
before being named principal in 1877.
Schaeffer was responsible for leading
the school through major changes in
curriculum and the physical campus
as the original buildings were deemed
insufficient for the size of the institu-
tion. In 1893, Governor Robert E.
Pattison nominated Schaeffer to serve
as state superintendent of education.
He passed away in 1919.
GEORGE B. HANCHER
Principal, Keystone State Normal School,
1893-1899
Born in 1846, Hancher grew up in
Tennessee and graduated from King’s
College, Bristol,Tenn. He was ordained
through the LutheranTheological
Seminary, Philadelphia. In 1882, he
came to KSNS as vice principal and
taught mathematics. He was named
principal in 1893, serving six years be-
fore taking a job as pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, Reading, Pa.
Hancher went on to serve as a pastor in Philadelphia, Chicago
and Mt. Carroll, Ill., before his death in 1915.
AMOS C. ROTHERMEL ’86
Principal, Keystone State Normal School,
1899-1928; President, Kutztown State
Teachers College, 1928-1934
Born in 1864, Rothermel served longer
than any other principal or president
in Kutztown University history. He
graduated from the school in 1886 and
returned to KSNS as a professor of
natural sciences in 1893 and rose to the
rank of principal in would lead
The Principals
Presidents
OF KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY
John S. Ermentrout Nathan C. Schaeffer
George B. Hancher
Amos C. Rothermel ’86
the school through its transition to Kutztown State Teachers
College when he became the first president in school history.
He retired in 1934 after 43 years of service to his alma mater.
He died in 1946.
QUINCY A. W.
ROHRBACH ’12
President, Kutztown State Teachers
College, 1934-1959
Rohrbach, a 1912 graduate of KSNS,
was named president of the school
in 1934 after spending ten years as
an administrator at the University of
had the daunting task of
guiding the college through the second
half of the Great Depression and
WorldWar II. Rohrbach was a member of the Pinchot Educa-
tional Commission during its 1931 and 1933 sessions. In 1959,
the Pennsylvania General Assembly adopted his report, which
urged changing the name and function of Pennsylvania’s teachers
colleges to the state college system used until retired in
1959 and died in 1988 at the age of 94.
ITALO L. DEFRANCESCO
President, Kutztown State College,
1959-1967
Born in Borello, Italy, deFrancesco came
to the U. S. in was the first
president of Kutztown State College,
a position he held from 1959 until his
death in had been affiliated
with Kutztown State College for 31
of his 45 years as an educator, mostly
as director of art was a
recognized authority on art and had taught at Reading Boys’High
School prior to coming to Kutztown. In 1959, the National Art
Education Association named him “Art Educator of the Year.”
He graduated fromWest Chester State College in held
degrees fromWest Chester University and the University of
Pennsylvania. He received a doctorate in education fromNewYork
University in 1942.
CYRUS E. BEEKEY
President, Kutztown State College,
1967-1969
Beekey, a graduate of Albright Col-
lege and Cornell University, came to
Kutztown State College in 1943 as
a professor of physics for the Army
Air Corps, who were training on
campus. He had previously taught in
the Reading School District for 16
years. One year later he was named a
professor of biology and chair of the science department. He
also served as head of admissions and the dean of instruction.
He was named president in 1967 and served until poor health
forced him to retire in 1969. Beekey died in 1974.
LAWRENCE M. STRATTON
President, Kutztown State College,
1969-1983; President, Kutztown
University, 1983-1987
Born in 1924, Dr. Lawrence M.
Stratton received a bachelor’s and a
master’s degree from the University
of Michigan and a doctoral degree
from Rutgers University. He served as
president of Kutztown University from
1969 – 1987, guiding the institution
from a state college to university status. Stratton is noted for
doubling the academic programs available at KU and growing
the campus with the addition of the Beekey Education Center,
the fine arts annex of Sharadin Arts Building, the administra-
tion building and Bonner, Lytle and Keystone Halls. Stratton
died while still in office in 1987.
DAVID E. MCFARLAND
President, Kutztown University,
1988-2002
McFarland was president of Kutztown
University from 1988 – came
to KU after serving as the provost and
vice president for academic affairs at
the University of Central Missouri.
The Student Union Building was
named in his honor in 2002.McFarland
currently serves as a senior associate
with the American Association of
State Colleges and Universities Penson Center for Professional
Development.
F. JAVIER CEVALLOS
President, Kutztown University,
2002-2014
Cevallos was born in Cuenca, Ecuador,
and later moved to the Caribbean
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. He
holds a bachelor’s degree from the Uni-
versity of Puerto Rico and master’s and
doctoral degrees from the University of
Illinois. Cevallos spent the majority of
his career as a professor of Spanish and
Portuguese, department chair and vice chancellor for student
affairs at the University of Massachusetts. He was named presi-
dent of KU in 2002 and served the university for 12 years. In
June, 2014, Cevallos returned to Massachusetts as president of
Framingham State University.
Quincy A. W. Rohrbach ’12
Italo L. DeFrancesco
Cyrus E. Beekey
Lawrence M. Stratton
David E. McFarland
F. Javier Cevallos
Abraham R. Horne