Dr. Martin A. Massengale

(Inducted in 1992)

Dr. Martin Massengale assumed the presidency of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1991, a position he held until 1994. Massengale, a Monticello native, earned his bachelor's degree in 1952 from Western and his master's degree and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. His academic specialties are agronomy, botany, plant physiology and crop ecology. Massengale has served as chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln since 1981. As president, he is the chief executive officer of the University of Nebraska System. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the University of Nebraska Medical Center are major units of the System. A fourth campus, at Kearney, was added to the system in 1991. Following his graduation from Western, he served as a research assistant during his graduate studies at Wisconsin. He served in the U.S. Army as a technical advisor for two years. In 1958, he joined the faculty of the University of Arizona as an assistant professor in agronomy.

He was promoted to associate professor in 1962 and full professor in 1965. Later he served as Agronomy Department Head, Associate Dean and Director of the Arizona Agricultural Experiment Station. In 1976, he was appointed Vice Chancellor for Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and in 1981 was appointed Chancellor. He served as Interim President of the University of Nebraska from August 1989 until his permanent appointment to the post in 1991. Massengale was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus in Agriculture at WKU in 1985. In 1994, he was named a Foundation Distinguished Professor and President Emeritus at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and became Director of the Center for Grassland Studies. He gained full emeriti status with the University of Nebraska in 2017.