Homer B. Williams, Educator

Homer B. Williams was born in 1865 to John and Mary (Secrest) Williams in Mt. Ephraim, Ohio. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Ohio Northern College, and he earned graduate degrees from Baldwin-Wallace and Columbia University. He was given an honorary doctor of law by Bowling Green State University. After teaching in rural Ohio schools, he served as school Superindent of schools in Caldwell, Kenton, and Cambridge. In August, 1898, Sandusky City Schools selected Homer B. Williams as Superintendent of Sandusky Schools. An article which appeared in the August 8, 1898 issue of the Sandusky Star reported that Williams was considered one of the leading educators in Ohio. His annual salary in 1898 was $1,800.  During the annual session of the Ohio States Teachers’ Association, which met at Cedar Point from June 27 to June 29, 1911, Mr. Williams gave the opening address, entitled “Intellectual Habits.”  The text of his address was reprinted in Volume 60 of the Ohio Educational Monthly.

In 1912 Homer B. Williams went to Bowling Green to become the first president of what was then the Bowling Green Normal School. The school had an enrollment of 100 when classes met in 1914. At the time of his retirement in August of 1937, Bowling Green State University had an enrollment of 1,876. Williams Hall, on the campus of BGSU, was named in his honor in 1917. 

Dr. Homer B. Williams died on September 22, 1943, at age 77. Funeral services were held at the auditorium of Bowling Green State University. Dr. Williams was survived by his wife, a daughter, and three sons. He was buried at the Oak Grove Cemetery in Bowling Green. An obituary for Dr. Homer B. Williams appeared in the September 23, 1943 issue of the Sandusky Register Star News.