Inauguration of Alfred Atkinson as president of The University of Arizona

Alfred Atkinson served as the 12th president of The University of Arizona, 1937-1947. He was the president of Montana State College, now Montana State University, for 18 years before he became the University of Arizona’s president.

Alfred Atkinson was born on a farm in Ontario, Canada, in 1879 of Scot-Irish parents, he was the youngest of seven children. He became a U.S. citizen in 1911. Atkinson received a Bachelor of Science degree from Iowa State University, a Master of Science degree from Cornell University, and a doctorate from Iowa State University.

During Atkinson’s presidency at the University of Arizona, the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research (1937) and the Radio Bureau (1939) were established; the School of Business and Public Administration became a college (1943), and fundraising began for the construction of the Student Union.

After Atkinson's retirement, the Arizona board of regents appointed him executive advisor in budgetary and financial matters, a part-time position he held until July 1955 when he was made President Emeritus. He died in Tucson on May 16, 1958.