Michigan State University's fourteenth President, Clifton R. Wharton, Jr., was an economist who had a distinguished career in foreign economic development, higher education, public service, and business. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts on September 13, 1926. Wharton's father served as a career diplomat in the United States Foreign Service for forty years.

Wharton attended Boston Latin School, America's first public school and at the age of sixteen entered Harvard University, graduating in 1947 with a B.A. in history. While there he was a founding member of the U.S. National Student Association. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army / Army Air Forces and was an Aviation Cadet at the Tuskegee Institute. After a honorable discharge in December 1945, he was the first African-American to enter John Hopkins University-School of Advanced International Studies and received his M.A. in international affairs 1948.

After working five years at the American International Association for Economic and Social Development, Wharton earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from the University of Chicago. In 1957, he joined the Agricultural Development Council, a Rockefeller Family Foundation. As a council associate stationed in Malaysia, Wharton directed programs in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. He also taught and conducted research as a visiting professor at the Universities of Malaysia and Singapore. He was also a research associate at the University of Chicago and a visiting professor at Stanford, during this time. Wharton later became Vice President of the Council, a position he held until his accession the presidency of MSU in January 1970.

His term of office was often a turbulent one, featuring student demonstrations in 1970 and 1972 as well as a National Collegiate Athletic Association investigation of the MSU football program. Fiscal problems resulting from budget cuts remained a constant problem throughout Wharton's tenure. His major achievements were his successful efforts to maintain the quality of MSU's academic programs despite budget reductions, his commitment to the education of the economically and educationally disadvantaged, and the integration of the School of Osteopathic Medicine with the other medical schools.

Wharton resigned from Michigan State University in December 1977 to accept the Chancellorship of the State University of New York (SUNY), which is the largest university system in the United States. He held this position until 1987. In February 1987, Wharton became first African-American to head a major U.S corporation when he was named Chairman and CEO of the Techers Insurance and Annuity Association of America and the College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF). During his time in these positions, he also was also on the board of many high-profile companies, such as The Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Motor Company, and Time, Inc. among many others. He also was still active in the field of foreign policy as the Chairman for the International Food and Agricultural Development Program (AID), appointed by President Gerald Ford and served as U.S. Deputy Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton. He remained active in multiple projects, including writing an autobiography utilizing many of the records in this collection. Clifton R. Wharton died in November, 2024.

The wife of Clifton Wharton, Dolores D. Wharton has had her own career on corporate boards and as an advocate for the arts. She has served on the Board of Governors for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Kellogg Company, Gannett Inc., and the Aspen Institute. She was appointed by Governor Milliken to the Michigan Council of the Arts in 1971 and in 1976, and she was elected as the first women and African-American of the Phillips Petroleum Company. She holds a fine arts degree from Chicago State University and nine honorary Doctors of Humane Letters.