 Franklin S. Harris was appointed the university 's president in 1921 . He was the first BYU president to have a doctoral degree . Harris made several important changes to the school , reorganizing it into a true university , whereas before , its organization had remnants of the Academy days . At the beginning of his tenure , the school was not officially recognized as a university by any accreditation organization . By the end of his term , the school was accredited under all major accrediting organizations at the time . He was eventually replaced by Howard S. McDonald , who received his doctorate from the University of California . When he first received the position , the Second World War had just ended , and thousands of students were flooding into BYU . By the end of his stay , the school had grown nearly five times to an enrollment of 5 @,@ 440 students . The university did not have the facilities to handle such a large influx , so he bought part of an Air Force Base in Ogden , Utah and rebuilt it to house some of the students . The next president , Ernest L. Wilkinson , also oversaw a period of intense growth , as the school adopted an accelerated building program . Wilkinson was responsible for the building of over eighty structures on the campus , many of which still stand . During his tenure , the student body increased six times , making BYU the largest private school at the time . The quality of the students also increased , leading to higher educational standards at the school . Finally , Wilkinson reorganized the LDS Church units on campus , with ten stakes and over 100 wards being added during his administration . 
