Ken Hush

Named interim president Nov. 17, 2021

President of Emporia State University from Nov. 17, 2021, to June 22, 2022 when he was named the 18th president.

Ken Hush was named ESU Interim President on Nov. 17, 2021. Hush is a graduate of Emporia State and was inducted into the ESU Athletics Hall of Honor in 1995. He previously served as chairman of the ESU Foundation Board of Trustees and on the Wichita State University Board of Trustees.

Dr. Jacqueline Vietti

Named interim president June 1, 2015

President of Emporia State University from June 1, 2015, to December 31, 2015.

Dr. Jacqueline Vietti has worked in public higher education for over 35 years, providing direction and leadership for community colleges and higher education systems in Kansas and Missouri and the 19-state region of the Higher Learning Commission. For over 17 years, she served as President of Butler Community College, the second largest public community college in the state, retiring in 2012.

Since then, Dr. Vietti has continued to work on behalf of public education and communities across Kansas, serving as a guest lecturer, an evaluator for the Higher Learning Commission, facilitating numerous initiatives, and as a member of a number of Boards, including El Dorado Inc., Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital, and the Kansas Board of Regents Postsecondary Technical Education Authority.

Born in Eureka, Kansas, Dr. Vietti is a graduate of Kansas State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Biological Science (1970); Emporia State University, where she earned her Secondary Teaching Certificate (1971); and Pittsburg State University, where she earned a Master’s of Science in Community College Teaching (1982). In 1991, she received her Doctorate of Philosophy in Adult and Occupational Education, also from Kansas State University.

Dr. H. Edward Flentje

Named interim president July 1, 2011.

President of Emporia State University from July 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011.

Dr. H. Edward Flentje returned to his alma mater at the request of the Kansas Board of Regents, who named him interim president beginning July 1, 2011.

Dr. Flentje earned his bachelor’s degree in education in math and physical science in 1964 from Kansas State Teachers College, now Emporia State University. He earned a master’s degree in government from George Washington University in 1965 and a Ph.D. in political science from The University of Kansas in 1970.

His career in higher education and government has spanned four decades.

Dr. Flentje joined Wichita State University in 1979 and served as a professor of public administration and also held numerous administrative assignments. From 1999 to 2008, he served as the director of Wichita State’s Hugo Wall School of Urban and Public Affairs.

He also has taught at Chicago City College, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and The University of Kansas and held administrative appointments at the Illinois Board of Higher Education and Southern Illinois University.

Dr. Flentje’s public service has included serving in the cabinets of former Kansas Govs. Robert F. Bennett and Mike Hayden. Dr. Flentje also served as chair of the Kansas Development Finance Authority, president of the Wichita Airport Authority and as interim city manager of Wichita in 2008.

At ESU, Dr. Flentje has served on the board of the ESU Alumni Association, was elected to the Emporia State University Foundation board in 2010 and was named a Distinguished Alumni in 2010.

A native Kansan, Dr. Flentje was born and reared in Harper County, attending public schools in Bluff City. He is a member of the American Political Science Association, American Society for Public Administration, Kansas State Historical Society and International City/County Management Association.

John O. Schwenn

Dr. John O. Schwenn served as interim president from May 31, 2006 to Oct. 31, 2006.

A native of La Crosse, Wisconsin, Dr. Schwenn obtained his BS degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse where he received the Maurice O. Graff Distinguished Alumni Award in 2005. He earned a M.S. and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.

In 1976, Dr. Schwenn became a faculty member and Director of Special Education at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi. In 1989, he was named the Associate Chair of Psychology and Special Education at Emporia State University. He has since held the positions of Chair of Psychology and Special Education, Dean of Graduate Studies and Research, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, and since 1997, Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Dr. Schwenn has been active in numerous professional organizations including the Learning Disability Association where he was Mississippi and Kansas state president, the Council for Exceptional Children where he was the Mississippi Federation President, the Kansas Division of Learning Disabilities where he was state president, and the Kansas Teacher Education Division state president. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the William Allen White Community Partnership, Incorporated, the Board of Governor’s of the Renaissance Group, and the Board of Directors of the National Teachers Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Flint Hills Technical College.

His more than 40 scholarly publications include books, chapters, and journal articles. He has presented at more than 60 international, national, and state conferences.

Dr. Larry Boylan

Dr. Larry Boylan served as Interim President of Kansas State Teachers College from August, 1966 to February, 1967

Laurence (Larry) Boylan served as interim president at Kansas State Teachers College (KSTC) from August 1966 to February 1967.

Boylan was born on November 26, 1908 in Le Roy, New York. After graduating high school, he attended Allegheny College and completed his bachelor of arts in 1932, and then earned his master’s and doctorate from Cornell University. After graduating with his master’s degree, Boylan served as a guidance director at the Gloversville, New York public school district.

Boylan began his 20-year career at the Kansas State Teachers College in 1954 as the Student Services Director. In 1958, he became Dean of Graduate Studies, a position he held until he retired in 1972.

Dr. John E. Jacobs

Dr. John E. Jacobs served as interim president from January 16, 1953 to June 26, 1953.

John E. Jacobs was appointed interim president of the Kansas State Teachers College on Jan 16, 1953, after president David L. MacFarlane died from heart problems. MacFarlane had been ill and in the hospital for several months. Jacobs served until John King was named the school’s 11th president on June 26, 1953.

Jacobs was a graduate of the teachers college at Pittsburg, had a M.S. in education and also a Ph.D. from the University of Kansas.

He joined the faculty at Kansas State Teachers College at the time as supervisor of secondary education in 1947. He was a visiting professor of education at the University of Kansas, and for a year was principal of the University high school, Mt. Oread. After teaching a rural school in Osage County and elementary schools in Burlingame, Jacobs became principal of the senior high school in Osawatomie, Kan. He was principal of the junior high in Lawrence from 1934 to 1941.

Jacobs was one of several individuals responsible for the development of the Endowment Association in 1953.

After being replaced by King, Jacobs became director of the program for exceptional children under the state Department of Education.