Marion LeRoy Burton (August 30, 1874 – February 18, 1925) was the second president of Smith College, serving from 1910 to 1917. He left Smith to become president of the University of Minnesota from 1917 to 1920. In 1920 he became president of the University of Michigan, where he served until his premature death, aged 50, in 1925 from angina. Early life and education Marion LeRoy Burton was born at Brooklyn, Iowa, August 30, 1874, the son of Ira John Henry Burton and Jane Adelize Simmons Burton. As a child, he moved with his parents and his three brothers to Minneapolis. His family was not well-off, and he left school at the end of his first year of high school to work in a drug store. In 1893 he entered Carleton Academy and after graduating three years later, enrolled in Carleton College in 1896. He worked as an instructor in Latin and Greek during his last year and graduated in June 1900. He immediately married Miss Nina Leona Moses, of Northfield, Minnesota, and began work as principal of Windom Institute in Windom, Minnesota. In 1903 he commenced studies at Yale University, taking a bachelor of divinity degree in 1906 and PhD in 1907, summa cum laude. After a short stint as assistant professor of systematic theology at Yale, he accepted a pulpit at the Church of the Pilgrims in Brooklyn, NY until his election to the presidency of Smith College in 1910. Leadership in higher education He served as president of Smith College (1910–1917), the University of Minnesota (1917–1920) and the University of Michigan (1917–1925). His presidency of the University of Minnesota coincided with World War I. As at many other universities, the loyalty of German professors was challenged and several were dismissed by the Regents during his tenure. He also grappled with the challenge of creating special training for U.S. Army recruits. He was a successful lobbyist, creating a 10-year campus building plan and securing an appropriation of $5,000,000 from the legislature, laying the groundwork for building the central mall on the Twin Cities campus. He left Minnesota before the buildings were completed, and soon commenced a similar effort in Ann Arbor, Michigan. During his time at Michigan, he oversaw the construction of many buildings, earning him the nickname "Burton the builder." He prepared a detailed building plan and convinced the people of the state and the legislature to