GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Clifton R. Wharton, Jr., Michigan State University’s first Black president, has died. He was 98 years old. The university announced his death late Saturday. The Detroit News reported Wharton died from some form of cancer.

He was the first African American to become president of a large white university, C.E.O. of a major corporation and deputy secretary of state.

Clifton R. Wharton Jr., the first Black President at Michigan State University and philanthropic figure, has died at age 98.

Wharton guided the opening of 2 colleges and held a 'steadfast commitment to creating a ‘pluralistic university,' said MSU president Kevin Guskiewicz.

Clifton R. Wharton Jr., former Michigan State University president and pioneer, is dead at the age of 98, the school said.

Clifton R. Wharton Jr., the first Black president of Michigan State University, has died at 98. He served from 1970 to 1978 and later became the first Black CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

Former Michigan State University President Clifton Wharton Jr. has died. Wharton led the school between 1970-78, making him the first African American president of a major U.S. public research university. As president, he oversaw the creation of the MSU Foundation and established an anti-discrimination judicial board.

Clifton Wharton Jr., a former Michigan State University president whose name and memory are tied to MSU's Wharton Center, died Saturday. He was 98, MSU’s president from 1970-1978, and a man of many firsts.