Dr. William T. Jerome, III, former President of BGSU, died Monday March 10. He was 88.

Born to the late William T. Jerome, Jr., and Hope Colgate Jerome in Yonkers, NY. Dr. Jerome is a 1941 magna cum laude graduate of Colgate University, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He attended Yale University Law School, qualifying for the Yale Law Review. His studies were interrupted by service in the U.S. Army G-2 military intelligence during World War II.

Following the War, Jerome resumed his studies at Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration where he earned the Master of Business Administration with distinction in 1946. The degree of Doctor of Commercial Science was awarded to him by Harvard University in 1952.

Dr. Jerome began his career as an educational administrator at Middlebury College, serving as Assistant to the President and as instructor of economics. In 1953 he was appointed Associate Professor of Business Administration at Syracuse University. He also was Director of the U.S. Army Comptrollership Program conducted by Syracuse University in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense. He was appointed Professor and Dean of the College of Business Administration at Syracuse in 1958. During his Deanship he authored Executive Control, The Catalyst and was a frequent lecturer and consultant to business groups such as the American Management Association, the Columbia Executive Program and the Cornell Management Development Program.

In 1963, Dr. Jerome became the sixth President of Bowling Green State University. He led the University during the period of its greatest academic and physical growth. The numbers of students and faculty nearly doubled to 14,000 and 720, respectively. Nine new master's degree programs and four doctoral programs were added, as were eleven new buildings on the main campus in Bowling Green and the first branch campus, the Firelands College, in Huron. In tribute to his contributions, the University's Board of Trustees re-dedicated William Travers Jerome Library, the centerpiece of his administration, in 1982. He also received the University Alumni Association's Honorary Alumnus Award.

Dr. Jerome became a special consultant and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Florida International University in 1970 to assist in the establishment of that institution, which opened in 1972. After various administrative roles, he returned to the teaching faculty as Distinguished Professor of Management, a position he held for 25 years until his retirement.

An avid sportsman, Jerome won golf tournaments in five states, including the Vermont State Amateur in 1948. He also served as a director of several companies and as a trustee of Riverdale Country School and Colgate University. He received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Middlebury College and an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree from Bowling Green State University.

Dr. Jerome was pre-deceased by his former wife, Jean C. Bewkes to whom he was married for 32 years. He is survived by sisters Hope Graves and Evelyn Lindsay both of Bennington, VT and Ann Miles of Springfield, MO and a brother, James Jerome of Bennington, VT. He is also survived by his children, Jennie Jerome of Nantucket, MA, William T. Jerome, IV of Shaftsbury, VT, Lawrence Jerome of Barrington, RI, and Kate Coderre of Bennington, VT and 13 grandchildren and one great grand-child.