Klotsche was born on 28 November 1907 in
Scribner, Nebraska. He graduated high school at age 13, and college at age 17. he earned his M.A. at the
University of Nebraska in 1928. He got his Ph.D. in history from the
University of Wisconsin in 1931 and came to
Milwaukee to teach at what was then Wisconsin State Teachers College-Milwaukee, a small teachers college with an enrollment of 1700. He became President of the college in the fall of 1946, when he was 38. It was renamed
Wisconsin State College-Milwaukee in 1951, and Klotsche's title was changed to
Provost). In 1956, the college was merged with the
University of Wisconsin-Extension's Milwaukee center to form the
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, with Klotsche remaining as provost. In 1965, his title was changed to
chancellor. After his retirement as chancellor in 1973, he remained on the faculty of the History Department until 1978. Klotsche's administration oversaw UWM's growth from a small teacher's college to a major university. Enrollment increased from 1,700 to almost 25,000; construction or purchase of more than 20 major buildings (not counting off-campus buildings); and the establishment of ten
schools and
colleges. The
Klotsche Center for Physical Education on the UWM campus is named for him. He earned a reputation as a strong supporter of student and faculty rights, often taking strong stands to defend them. Klotsche displayed a continued interest in foreign policy by directing events for the
Institute of World Affairs in
Geneva;
Paris; and
Salisbury, Connecticut; and by helping the
U.S. Office of Education organize a school-community project in
Germany. He also served as the president of the
Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters. After his retirement from teaching, Klotsche and his wife, Roberta Roberts Klotsche, lived for some time in Arizona; after her death, he returned to Wisconsin, living in
Oostburg in
Sheboygan County. He died there on 4 February 1995. He was the longest serving chancellor of the university. ==Books==