| 1886 |
State Normal School for Colored Persons established |
| |
John Henry Jackson named first president |
| 1887 |
Recitation Hall (now Jackson Hall) built |
| 1897 |
Library consisted of 400 books and 650 pamphlets |
| 1898 |
James Edward Givens named second president |
| |
Board of Trustees purchased 265 acres adjacent to original 29-acre campus |
| 1890 |
Morrill Land Grant Act added departments of agriculture, mechanics and domestic economy |
| 1900 |
James Shelton Hathaway named third president |
| |
152 students enrolled |
| 1902 |
Name changed to Kentucky Normal Industrial Institute |
| |
Kentucky Legislature increased annual state support to $5,000 and allotted $15,000
for construction of a female dormitory |
| 1903 |
111 female students, 89 male students from 45 of Kentucky’s then-119 counties |
| 1907 |
John Henry Jackson becomes the fourth president |
| 1908 |
State appropriated $40,000 for construction and improvements |
| 1909 |
Hume Hall and original Trades Building added |
| 1910 |
James Shelton Hathaway becomes the fifth president |
| |
First athletic teams organized |
| 1911 |
First summer session held |
| 1912 |
Green Pickney Russell named sixth president |
| |
10 staff, 300 students and $11,000 annual budget |
| 1917 |
Enrollment reached 830, including students in the high school program |
| 1920 |
Russell Memorial Hall built |
| 1921 |
$7,500 received from Veteran’s Bureau for World War I veterans’ scholarships |
| 1922 |
Legislature approved $42,000 for capital construction |
| 1923 |
Francis Marion Wood named seventh president |
| 1924 |
Green Pickney Russell becomes the eighth president |
| 1926 |
Name changed to Kentucky State Industrial College for Colored Persons |
| |
Three female students died in a dorm fire |
| 1928 |
$184,145.66 allocated for a new women’s dorm |
| 1929 |
Rufus B. Atwood named ninth president |
| |
High school program phased out |
| 1931 |
Bell Gymnasium built at a cost of $32,000 |
| |
Bachelor’s programs in agriculture and health and physical education were added |
| |
Departments of English, modern languages, home economics, history and government,
sociology and economics, and natural sciences and mathematics were added |
| 1935 |
Atwood Hall (men’s dorm) built |
| 1936 |
Music education program added |
| 1938 |
Name changed to Kentucky State College for Negroes |
| 1939 |
29 student scholarships totaling $2,485.75 awarded |
| |
Library contained 12,000 books and periodicals |
| |
Mildred Chandler Hall (women’s dorm) built |
| 1940 |
E.E. Underwood Refectory, first student dining facility, completed |
| 1949 |
James L. McCullin Hall built |
| 1952 |
Name changed to Kentucky State College |
| 1954 |
Rosenwald Laboratory School Building built |
| 1956 |
Accreditation received from the National Council on Accreditation of Teacher Education |
| 1957 |
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the commencement speaker |
| 1958 |
KSU became one of the first 14 black colleges to be granted full membership to the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools |
| |
Paul G. Blazer Library built. An annex was added in 1968 |
| 1960 |
Fire destroyed Bell Gymnasium |
| |
First white student enrolled |
| |
Alumni House built |
| 1961 |
Agriculture department eliminated |
| 1962 |
Carl McClellan Hill named 10th president |
| |
Bell Gymnacium rebuilt in old location |
| 1963 |
Board of Regents approved a $9 million expansion plan |
| 1964 |
Enrollment reached 1,226 |
| |
Bert Combs and Ann J. Hunter Halls (dorms) built |
| 1965 |
David H. Bradford Hall built |
| 1967 |
J. S. Hathaway Hall and Whitney M. Young Jr. Hall built |
| 1968 |
Carver Hall Annex completed |
| 1969 |
Athletic Complex built |
| 1970 |
KSC had 1,600 students |
| |
Jones Field House and Shauntee Hall built |
| |
Men's Basketball Team won NAIA Championship |
| 1971 |
Carl M. Hill Student Center built. Additions were made in 1984 and 2003 |
| |
Betty White Health Center built |
| |
Men's Basketball Team won NAIA Championship |
| 1972 |
The college became Kentucky State University |
| |
Hillcrest, the president's residence, was built |
| |
Men's Basketball Team won NAIA Championship |
| 1973 |
Jackson Hall added to National Register of Historic Places |
| |
The first graduate students enrolled in the School of Public Affairs |
| 1974 |
12 students awarded the first Master of Public Administration degrees |
| 1975 |
William A. Butts named 11th president |
| |
Federal Financial Aid allocation reached $1.2 million |
| |
The pre-law curriculum added |
| 1977 |
Gov. Julian Carroll committed $10 million for improvements to KSU |
| |
Memorial Athletic Complex and Alumni Stadium built |
| 1978 |
KSU received its first large private grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in the
amount of $406,000 |
| 1981 |
Julian M. Carroll Academic Services Building built |
| |
KSU won NAIA Women's Basketball Championship |
| 1982 |
Raymond M. Burse named 12th president |
| |
Center of Excellence for the Study of Kentucky African Americans established |
| 1983 |
Whitney M. Young Jr. College of Leadership Studies opened |
| 1984 |
Aquaculture Research Center built |
| 1986 |
The University celebrated its centennial anniversary |
| |
The University bought the Research and Demonstration Farm |
| 1989 |
Mary Levi Smith named interim president |
| 1990 |
John T. Wolfe Jr. named 13th president |
| 1991 |
Mary Smith named 14th president |
| 1992 |
William Exum Center built |
| 1993 |
Cooperative Extension Building built |
| 1998 |
Dr. George W. Reid named 15th president |
| |
Whitney M. Young Jr. statue erected at the front entrance of campus |
| 1999 |
Aquaculture became KSU's program of distinction |
| |
Roy M. Chappell Building built |
| 2002 |
Dr. Paul Bibbins named short-term interim president |
| |
KSU awarded its first Master of Aquaculture degree |
| 2003 |
Dr. William H. Turner named long-term interim president |
| 2004 |
Dr. Mary Evans Sias named 16th president |
| 2005 |
KSU purchased 320 acres in Henry County for its Environmental Education Center |
| 2007 |
The School of Education introduced the Master of Special Education, KSU's first completely
online academic program |
| 2008 |
J. S. Hathaway Hall was renovated and the new Whitney M. Young Jr. Residence Hall
was built. The former Young Hall was renamed The Halls. |
| 2009 |
KSU's university-wide accreditation reaffirmed by the Southern Association of Colleges
and Schools |
| 2010 |
School of Business accreditation reaffirmed |
| |
Center for Sustainability of Farms and Families built |
| 2011 |
College of Agriculture, Food Science and Sustainable Systems established |
| |
KSU held its first Fall Commencement in December |
| |
Groundbreaking held for the Dr. Henry E. Cheaney Legacy Plaza |
| 2012 |
Aquaculture Production Technologies Laboratory built |
| 2013 |
Rosenwald Center for Families and Children opened |
| |
Award-winning Kentucky River Thorobred science boat unveiled |
| 2014 |
Raymond M. Burse named 17th president |
| 2016 |
Aaron Thompson named interim president |
| 2017 |
M. Christopher Brown II named the 18th president |
| 2021 |
Clara Ross Stamps named acting president |
| 2022 |
Ronald A. Johnson named interim president |
| 2023 |
Koffi C. Akakpo named 19th president |
