STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi State University says former president Donald Zacharias has died of complications from multiple sclerosis. He was 77.
Daughter-in-law Sarah Zacharias of Boulder, Colo., says he died late Saturday night.
The university says that under Zacharias from 1985 to 1997, enrollment, private contributions, research and athletic achievement all grew significantly. The school became home to one of a handful of Engineering Research Centers funded by the National Science Foundation.
Zacharias was born in Salem, Ind., and taught at Indiana University and the University of Texas, where he moved into administration. He was Western Kentucky University's president before coming to Mississippi State.
He is survived by his wife, Tommie Kline Zacharias, their three adult children and three grandchildren, all of Boulder, Colo., and a sister.
