lawrence H. van den berg

Dr. Lawrence Hoffman van den Berg was the last principal of the New Paltz Normal School and the first president of the State Teachers' College at New Paltz (1923-1943). During his time at New Paltz, he became an honorary member of the Zeta Chapter of the Delphic Fraternity. 

Lawrence was born in Grand Haven, Michigan, in 1877 and attended the local public schools, graduating from Grand Haven High School in 1894. His father was Albert Gerrit van den Berg, and his mother was Johanna Hoffman, who immigrated from Holland in the Netherlands to Michigan, USA, in 1846. 

Lawrence received his B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1898, his M.A. from Columbia University in 1913, and an honorary PhD. from the State College for Teachers in Albany, New York. 

After his initial professional stint in Michigan, where he became the principal of his high school alma mater, van den Berg relocated to Oswego, New York, to assume the role of the Director of Training at its normal school. He later returned to Grand Haven, Michigan, to fill the position of superintendent of schools. 

Van den Berg then moved back to New York in 1923 to become the fifth principal of the New Paltz Normal School, and later the first president of the New Paltz State Teachers College. 

A building at SUNY New Paltz is named in van den Berg's honor. Van den Berg Hall is the second-oldest building on campus, commissioned in 1930, and is the current home of the School of Business. 

Van den Berg married Clara A. Vyn, and the couple had three children. Dr. van den Berg died in his home on Monday, September 27, 1943, after an illness of four weeks due to a heart ailment. He was 66 years old.