MoWest reflects on legacy of founding President, Marvin Looney

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- Missouri Western State University is mourning the loss and remembering its very first president, Marvin O. Looney. 

Looney grew up in southwest Missouri and graduated from Missouri State University before starting his teaching career at Gainesville High School.  

Looney earned his Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas in 1961 and after stops at the University of Central Missouri, Kellogg Community College and Mahoning Community College, Looney was named president of what was then Missouri Western Junior College in 1967.

Even after retiring from MoWest in 1983, Looney stayed active in education—serving at the University of Alaska Anchorage and later spent eight years as chancellor at Missouri State University–West Plains.  

"There are few figures, if any, more vital than Dr. Looney to the development of Missouri Western State University,” said Dr. Elizabeth Kennedy, the University’s fifth president. “When he arrived in St. Joseph, a four-year regional university was little more than a dream. He gave that dream shape and substance, inspiring faculty, staff, students and the community to build MoWest into the vibrant university it remains today.”

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