August 17, 2016

James Creese becomes the president of the Drexel Institute of Technology in 1945 after serving as vice president of the Stevens Institute of Technology. Creese’s two-decade-long reign at Drexel is marked by the hardships of World War II, the post-war increase in students and the expansion of Drexel’s campus and curriculum. During his tenure, Drexel doubles its physical size while tuition as a proportion of revenue falls significantly. In 1963, he resigns in ill health and dies three years later of a heart attack at age 70. The Creese Student Center, opened in 1963, is named for him.