GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Clifton R. Wharton, Jr., Michigan State University’s first Black president, has died. He was 98 years old.

The university announced his death late Saturday. The Detroit News reported Wharton died from some form of cancer.

Wharton served as the president of MSU from 1970 through 1978. He was a well-decorated academic but also had an impactful career in several different fields.

Michigan State University President Clifton Wharton Jr., top left, oversees a meeting of university officials. (Courtesy MSU)
Michigan State University President Clifton Wharton Jr., top left, oversees a meeting of university officials. (Courtesy MSU)

Wharton earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Harvard, a master’s degree from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins and a doctorate in economics at the University of Chicago. In the wake of his successful career, he received 62 honorary doctorates.

In his professional career, Wharton worked in business, foreign economic development and philanthropy, in addition to his time in academia. He also made history as the nation’s first Black CEO of a Fortune 500 company when he was named Chairman of TIAA-CREF, the nation’s largest pension fund. He also went on to serve as the chairman of the Rockefeller Foundation and, in 1993, was named deputy secretary of state by President Bill Clinton.

James Spaniolo, who served as Wharton’s assistant from 1970 to 1972 and was the one-time dean of MSU’s College of Communication Arts and Sciences, credits Wharton with the changes that elevated Michigan State to a major university.

Clifton and Dolores Wharton pose in front of the Wharton Center for Performing Arts on Michigan State University's campus. (Courtesy MSU)
Clifton and Dolores Wharton pose in front of the Wharton Center for Performing Arts on Michigan State University’s campus. (Courtesy MSU)

“What President Wharton brought was a whole new dimension, and he helped create a new reputation and perception of Michigan State University as not just a state university, but as an emerging national university,” Spaniolo said in a 2019 magazine article.

Teresa Sullivan, president emerita of the University of Virginia and a former MSU interim provost, said Wharton’s impact on Michigan State can’t be measured.

“Clifton Wharton cared deeply about students and their welfare, and he sought to create new opportunities for them,” Sullivan said in a statement. “He was always open to new ideas and sought people’s opinions, and he understood the value of shared governance for universities. In a time of great turmoil for higher education, he was calm, reasoned and driven by his principles.”

Wharton is survived by his wife of 74 years, Dolores, and their son, Bruce.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family has asked for donations to the Dr. Clifton and Dolores Wharton Legacy Fund, which supports the endowment fund for MSU’s Wharton Center for Performing Arts.