Herman Lee Donovan was an American educator and college administrator who served as the fourth president of the University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky

The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...

 (UK) from 1941-1956. During this period, the University of Kentucky faced many challenges including the desegregation of both the graduate and undergraduate divisions, an influx of veterans as a result of the G.I. Bill, and political interference from legislators

Kentucky General Assembly

The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky.The General Assembly meets annually in the state capitol building in Frankfort, Kentucky, convening on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January...

 in Frankfort

Frankfort, Kentucky

Frankfort is a city in Kentucky that serves as the state capital and the county seat of Franklin County. The population was 27,741 at the 2000 census; by population it is the 5th smallest state capital in the United States...

.

A native of Maysville, Kentucky

Maysville, Kentucky

Maysville is a city in and the county seat of Mason County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 8,993 at the 2000 census, making it the fiftieth largest city in Kentucky by population. Maysville is on the Ohio River, northeast of Lexington. It is the principal city of the Maysville...

, on the Ohio River

Ohio River

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...

, Donovan was the first student enrolled at the Western Kentucky State Normal School (now Western Kentucky University

Western Kentucky University

Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA. It was formally founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier....

), graduating in 1908. He later attended the University of Kentucky, Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, and George Peabody School for Teachers (now Peabody College

Peabody College

Peabody College of Education and Human Development was founded in 1875 when the University of Nashville, located in Nashville, Tennessee, split into two separate educational institutions...

 of Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...

) in Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

, from which he earned his Ph.D. At Columbia University Donovan was firmly schooled in the educational idea of Progressivism

Progressivism

Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...

, and later he headed Eastern Kentucky Normal School (now called Eastern Kentucky University

Eastern Kentucky University

Eastern Kentucky University, commonly referred to as Eastern or by the acronym EKU by local residents, is an undergraduate and graduate teaching and research institution located in Richmond, Kentucky, U.S.A.. EKU is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools...

) from 1928-1941 in Richmond, Kentucky

Richmond, Kentucky

There were 10,795 households out of which 24.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.2% were married couples living together, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.6% were non-families. Of all households, 34.7% were made up of individuals and 8.8% had...

, before being called to head UK.

Donovan believed that the state of Kentucky should be UK's campus, and he was fond of saying, "You cannot have a great state without a great state university." He wrote about his experiences as a teacher, builder, and administrator in the memoir Keeping the University Free and Growing, published in 1959. Particularly notable is Donovan's chapter on integration, in which he discusses the case of Lyman Johnson

Lyman T. Johnson

Lyman Tefft Johnson was an American educator and influential leader of racial desegregation in Kentucky. He is best known as the plaintiff whose successful legal challenge opened the University of Kentucky to African-American students in 1949.-Early life and education:Born in Columbia, Tennessee...

, the Louisville history schoolteacher who won the right to attend the University's graduate school under court order in 1949.

Donovan was married to Nell Stuart and died in 1964. He is buried in Lexington Cemetery, not far from the grave of Coach Adolph Rupp

Adolph Rupp

Adolph Frederick Rupp was one of the most successful coaches in the history of American college basketball. Rupp is fourth in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching...

, who won several NCAA championships at UK while Donovan was president.