Thomas W. Butcher

Butcher was born to Boman Rilea Butcher and Adeline Vail in Macomb, Illinois.[3] Butcher attended The University of Kansas (KU), where he later graduated in 1894. Butcher began his career in education as a principal of a couple of high schools in Oklahoma, and in 1904, Butcher received his master of arts from Harvard University.[4] Two years after graduating from Harvard, Butcher became Central State Normal School's sixth president in Edmond, Oklahoma, and served until 1908.[5] After resigning from Central State in 1908, Butcher left for Frederick William University in Germany.[6] In 1909 after a year in Germany, Butcher served as a superintendent in Enid, Oklahoma, from 1909 to 1913, and was later named Kansas State Normal's president in 1913.[7]

In 1914, Butcher started a work study program, which would give students on-campus jobs to help them attend school. 1917 saw the completion of the administrative building, Plumb Hall.[8][9] Albert Taylor Hall, named after the fifth president of KSN, Albert R. Taylor, is an auditorium located within the building.[10][11] Under Butcher's administration, the Memorial Union was built in 1922, named to honor veterans of World War I. Butcher also helped the Normal School transition a name change; the new name would Kansas State Teachers College to focus on teaching.[12] In 1938, a new stadium, later named Francis G. Welch Stadium, opened, as well as a bell tower known today as Silent Joe.[13] Butcher retired on June 30, 1943, as the longest serving president in the history of Emporia State University.[14]