John Entz
John A. Entz, who was previously Dean of Instruction at Slippery Rock State Teachers College, began his presidency while enrollment continued to decline after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. By fall of 1943, only 189 students were enrolled and SRSTC began to explore ways in which its educational resources could be used to promote the nation’s war effort. By the next spring, the first Army flight-training cadets arrived, and the campus became an Army Air Force Technical Center. The college achieved a significant milestone in 1943 when it was awarded full accreditation from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. With the end of the war in Europe, enrollment began to improve. The roots of the school’s nursing program were planted in 1945 when the college became a center of government-sponsored training program for cadet nurses. That same year Entz resigned explaining “…at this time it is wise to yield the post to a younger and more vigorous man.” Entz was a graduate of Albright College and had a master’s from New York University, where he also pursued a doctorate.