The Office of the President correspondence records include the presidential correspondence and related materials of the Michigan State Normal College (MSNC), Eastern Michigan College, and Eastern Michigan University presidents.

Charles McKenny was the twelfth MSNC president, serving from 1912 to 1933. McKenny Hall, named in honor of Charles McKenny, was dedicated in 1931 as the student union and while it still bears the name it is now used for classroom instruction, administrative and program offices. During McKenny's tenure as president, Michigan State Normal School became the largest teacher training school in the world. McKenny was known for being invested in the school and students, and always willing to improve the campus experience.

John Munson was the thirteenth president, serving from 1933 through 1948. He took control of the presidency in the midst of the Great Depression, and successfully guided the school through the depression and the war years that followed. Munson was known for being demanding, but also for his integrity. He cut the salaries of all faculty and staff, including his own, in an effort to continue investment in building and development of the school.

James Brickley served as the sixteenth president from 1974 through 1978. Beginning his term in a time of economic depression, Brickley had to fight for the school to receive any funding. Brickley was responsible for negotiations with union groups on campus, leading to important changes concerning faculty, staff and physical plant workers.

John Porter was the seventeenth president, serving from 1979 through 1988. His ten years as president became known as a "decade of change." Porter enacted several new policies which reversed the decline in student enrollment, made certain the school was accredited with North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, and revitalized the Intercollegiate Athletics. Near the end of his term, enrollement had grown to 20,000 students, and he began the reorganization of the administration and outreach to alumni and friends of the University.