William Samuel Carlson (November 18, 1905 – May 8, 1994) was a 20th-century academic administrator who served as president of four universities.[1]
Carlson was born in
Ironwood, Michigan and earned bachelor's (1930), master's (1932) and Ph.D. (1938) degrees from the
University of Michigan. Carlson participated in the University of Michigan
Greenland Expedition of 1928–1929 and led the fourth University of Michigan Greenland Expedition in 1930–1931.[2] After completing his education, he joined the
University of Minnesota as an assistant professor of education, eventually becoming a full professor and dean of admissions and records.
He served in the Air Force during the
Second World War, building air bases in Canada, Greenland, and Iceland for transport to Britain.