Vernon Alden

Vernon Roger Alden (April 7, 1923 – June 22, 2020) was an American scholar, businessman, philanthropist and the 15th president of Ohio University. After graduating from Brown University and Harvard Business School, he stayed at the business school as an associate dean. After his term as president at Ohio University, he worked at the Boston Company as chairman for several years.

Early life Alden was born in April 1923 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Hildur Pauline (Johnson) and Arvid W. Alden, a Protestant minister. As a young boy, he attended public school in Illinois and Rhode Island. During World War II, Alden attended the Navy Officers Japanese Language School in Boulder, Colorado, before serving on the aircraft carrier . Alden received a degree in English literature at Brown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Upon his retirement from Ohio University the Board of Trustees dedicated the new library in his name, the Vernon Roger Alden Library. Alden left the University in 1969.