Herman B Wells (June 7, 1902 – March 18, 2000), a native of Boone County, Indiana, was the eleventh president of Indiana University Bloomington and its first university chancellor. He was pivotal in the transformation of Indiana University from a small, locally oriented college into a world-class institution of higher learning through expanded enrollment, recruitment of new faculty, construction of new buildings, new program offerings, and campus beautification projects. He remained steadfast in his support of IU's faculty and students, especially in the areas of academic freedom and civil rights.James H. Capshew, "Encounters with Genius Loci: Herman Wells at/and/of Indiana University," Perspectives on the History of Higher Education 28 (2011), 161–91.
Wells began his career in banking, but served the university in a variety of faculty and administrative capacities during his seventy-year career at Indiana University Bloomington: instructor and assistant professor, department of economics (1930–35; dean and professor of administration, school of business administration (1935–37); acting president (1937–38); and president (1938–62). He gave up control in 1962 to become university chancellor (1962–2000); interim president (1968); and chairman of the board of the Indiana University Foundation (1969–72), as well as other leadership roles at the Indiana University Foundation.
Early life Herman B Wells was born on June 7, 1902, in Jamestown, Boone County, Indiana. He was the only child of Joseph Granville Wells, a bank cashier and a former teacher and elementary school principal, and Anna Bernice (Harting) Wells, a former teacher.Capshew, "Making Herman B Wells," page 371. Herman was not given a middle name, only the letter "B" not followed by a period. (A family tradition on his mother's side had middle names beginning with that letter, but Wells' parents could not agree on a middle name for him.) Wells's father committed suicide in 1948; his mother died in 1973.
Wells grew up in Jamestown, attended a local Methodist church, and played alto horn in the Jamestown Boys' Band.Capshew, "Making Herman B Wells," page 364. In 1917, the family moved to Lebanon, Indiana, the seat of government for Boone County, when Joseph was appointed deputy county treasurer. After school and on Saturdays, Herman helped out at a local bank where his father worked.Capshew, "Making Herman B Wells," pages 366, 369.
Education Wells graduated from Lebanon High School in 1920 and was voted "Funniest" and "Best All-Around Boy" his senior year.Gugan and St. Clair, eds., page 370. Wells served as treasurer for the high school's yearbook and was involved in the school's newspaper, theater productions, and various fundraisers. After graduation Wells worked at a bank in nearby Whitestown, Indiana, to earn money for college. Although Wells's parents were supportive of his desire to continue his education, they had limited financial resources to pay for his college tuition and other expenses.
Wells initially enrolled at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1920, but transferred to Indiana University Bloomington, in 1921 at the beginning of his sophomore year. Although his father objected to the move because Illinois had a strong business school, Wells convinced his father that the transfer to IU would be a good idea, especially since he intended to work in Indiana after graduation and already had friends at IU. Wells also pointed out that the connections he developed at IU would be useful to his future career.Capshew, "Making Herman B Wells," pages 371–72. In his autobiography, Being Lucky: Reminiscences and Reflections (1980), Wells described his early impressions of IU: "It was a simple place in those days, with not yet three thousand students, but it had great charm and appeal for me."
Wells was active in campus life as an undergraduate at Indiana University, he pledged Sigma Nu fraternity, lived in its chapter house at 322 East Kirkwood, and became involved in campus activities. Wells served as the fraternity chapter's treasurer and was elected as his fraternity chapter's president (eminent commander) in his senior year. He was also treasurer of IU's Union Board, a student organization established in 1909. In addition, Wells played in IU's band and frequently visited the Book Nook, a local hangout that he described as "a remarkably fertile cultural and political breeding place in the manner of the famous English coffee houses."Wells, page 33. Wells earned a Bachelor of Science degree in commerce (business) in 1924.
After college graduation Wells spent the next two years (1924–26) working as an assistant bank cashier at the First National Bank of Lebanon, Indiana, where his father worked as a cashier, and living at home with his parents, before continuing his education at IU Bloomington. Wells earned Master of Arts degree in economics from IU in 1927. His master's thesis, "Service Charges for Small or So-Called Country Banks," was published in The Hoosier Banker in 1927.Capshew, "The Campus as a Pedagogical Agent," page 186. Wells began doctoral studies in economics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, but his schooling ended in 1928, when he took a job with the Indiana Bankers Association.Wells, page 447.
Early career In 1928 Wells left his graduate studies at Wisconsin to take a job as a field secretary for the Indiana Bankers Association, where he remained until 1931. As part of his work at the IBA, Wells travelled throughout Indiana visiting local banks, attending meetings, and working closely with bankers to conduct research on the history of Indiana's financial institutions, banking regulations, and the causes of bank failures. He also wrote a monthly column, "Hoosier Highways," for The Hoosier Banker, the IBA's journal.Wells, pages 44–45, 52.
In addition to working for the IBA, Wells became an instructor in IU's Department of Economics and Sociology in 1930. By 1931 Wells had become the director of research for the state government's Study Commission for Indiana Financial Institutions, in addition to his jobs at the IBA and IU. Wells was the main author of the commission's report that recommended far-reaching reforms to Indiana's financial regulations and policies, many of which were adopted by the Indiana General Assembly in 1933 had a major impact on the state's banking laws.Wells, pages 55–60.Capshew, "The Campus as a Pedagogical Agent," page 187.
Wells established a home base at Woodburn House, a private residence he leased on North College Avenue in Bloomington, during the early years of his career. He also spent time in Indianapolis, frequently staying at the Claypool Hotel or the Indianapolis Athletic Club, and at Nashville in Brown County, Indiana.Capshew, "Home Design for Indiana University", page 30.Wells, page 91.Capshew, Herman B Wells, page 73.
In 1933 Wells took a two-year leave of absence from his appointment as an assistant professor at IU. Between 1933 and 1935, when he returned to IU, Wells worked three full-time jobs. He was secretary of the Indiana Commission for Financial Institutions, as well as a bank supervisor, Division of Banks and Trust Companies, and supervisor of the Division of Research and Statistics at the newly created Indiana Department of Financial Institutions, a state agency that originated in the study commission's recommendations.Wells, pages 60–61.
Academic career
IU instructor and dean Wells began his seventy-year career at IU in 1930, when he joined the economics faculty as an instructor at the Bloomington campus. This position led to an assistant professorship in economics at the university in 1933. Wells accepted the job, but took a two-year leave of absence to work for the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions before returning to Indiana University
In 1935 IU's president, William Lowe Bryan, appointed Wells as dean of the School of Business Administration, which later became the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. Wells, who was Bryan's protégée, would succeed him as the university's president in 1937, despite rumors that Indiana governor Paul McNutt, a former dean of the law school, was interested in the position."In Mid-Pasage," volume II of Capshew, Herman B Wells, pages 91–92.
Indiana University president In 1937, two years after his selection as dean of IU's business school, Wells was offered the position of acting president following Bryan's unexpected resignation. Wells accepted on the condition that he not be considered for the permanent presidency of the university, because he did not feel he was adequately prepared to take on the president's responsibilities.Wells, page 94. Wells became interim president effective July 1, 1937.Capshew, Herman B Wells, pages 110–11. McNutt, who was rumored to be the front-runner for the permanent IU president's post, withdrew his name from consideration, and on March 22, 1938, the IU board of trustees unanimously elected Wells from its remaining slate of candidates as the university's eleventh president. Wells was inaugurated on December 1, 1938, as the youngest state university president in the nation. Wells held this post until his retirement in 1962.Capshew, Herman B Wells, page 97.Clark, "In Mid-Pasage," volume II of Indiana University: Midwestern Pioneer, pages 403–05.
Although Wells could have moved into in the President's House on campus, he remained at Woodburn House, his residence close to downtown Bloomington, for twenty-five years. Woodburn House allowed him more privacy, away from campus life. James Woodburn, the owner of Woodburn House, donated the residence to the university in 1940. Bryan, who became IU's president emeritus, continued to reside at the President's House on campus until his death in 1953. Wells lived in the President's House (later known as Bryan House) from 1957 until his retirement as IU's president in 1962. After Wells moved to the President's House, Woodburn House continued to be used as a private residence until the IU Alumni Association assumed management of the property in 1976 and converted it as a place to entertain guests.Capshew, "Home Design for Indiana University," pages 29, 31.Wells, pages 92–93.Capshew, Herman B Wells, pages 257–59.
Indiana University fared much better than most state schools thanks to the entrepreneurship dean and president Wells. He collaborated with Frederick L. Hovde, the president of IU's cross state rival, Purdue; together they approached the Indiana delegation to Congress, indicating their highest priorities. For Wells, it was to build a world-class music school, replacing dilapidated facilities. As a result of these efforts, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built one of finest facilities in the country. He added matching funds from the state legislature, and opened a full-scale fund-raising campaign among alumni and the business community. In 1942, Wells reported that "The past five years have been the greatest single period of expansion in the physical plant of the University in its entire history. In this period 15 new buildings have been constructed."Herman B Wells, Being Lucky (1980), pages 155-69Thomas D Clark, Indiana University: Midwestern Pioneer volume 3: Years of Fulfillment (1977), page 168.