Fayetteville State University

suspended, and the title of Principal changed to president. On June 30, 1933, Dr. Smith retired and became the school's first President Emeritus.
Following Dr. Smith's retirement, Dr. J. Ward Seabrook assumed the presidency of what would, under his leadership, become Fayetteville State Teachers College in 1939, a state and regionally accredited four-year college granting the Bachelor of Science degree in education. Later, in 1959, under the presidency of Dr. Rudolph Jones, a revision of the school's charter authorized a curricular expansion to include programs leading to degrees outside the teaching field. It was also during Dr. Jones' presidency that the school became Fayetteville State College in 1963 and significant additions were made to the physical plant to accommodate a rapidly growing enrollment.
In 1969, Dr. Charles Lyons Jr. became president and in that year the college was formally renamed Fayetteville State University and designated a regional university by an act of the state legislature. Later, …