Diether Haenicke

Who was Diether Haenicke?

Diether H. Haenicke was a president of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Haenicke had previously served as president from 1985–1998 and as an interim president from 2006–2007.

On August 15, 2006, the Western Michigan University Board of Trustees unanimously voted to appoint Haenicke as interim president, immediately after voting to fire president Judith Bailey.

Haenicke had stepped down from the presidency in 1998 and continued to teach foreign languages until 2004. A large building on campus, Haenicke Hall, is named for him. Haenicke received his doctorate, magna cum laude, in 1962 from the University of Munich.

Haenicke served as the interim president of Western Michigan University from September, 2006, following the firing of then-president Judith Bailey by the WMU board of directors until the tenure of John Dunn began in July, 2007.

Haenicke died aged 73 on February 15, 2009, in Kalamazoo, from complications following a head injury sustained in December 2008 when he went into cardiac arrest while giving a speech.