Harlan Henthorne Hatcher was born on September 9th, 1898, in Ironton, Ohio. He received a B.A., an M.A. and a Ph.D. from Ohio State University. He also attended the University of Chicago as a graduate student.

He worked as a Professor of American Literature at Ohio State University, then as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in 1944, and as Vice President in 1948. In 1951, he became the eighth President of the University of Michigan. He helped expand the budget from $44.5 million to more than $186 million, and enrollment from 17,000 to 37,000. He also established additional campuses in Flint and Dearborn. In 1954, he condoned the hearings of the House Un-American Activities Committee and fired two faculty members for suspicions of Communism. He stepped down in 1967. In 1968, the Graduate Library was named after him. He wrote three novels and several academic volumes.