Frank Palmer Speare
Speare pictured in The Cauldron 1921, Northeastern yearbook
1st President of Northeastern University
In office 1898–1940
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	Carl Stephens Ell
Personal details
Born	March 31, 1869 Dorchester, Massachusetts[1]
Died	May 28, 1954 (aged 84–85)[1]
Spouse(s)	May Cushing Whiting,[1] Katherine Vinton
Children	Marjory Vinton Speare
Parent(s)	Charles Speare, Jeanette Palmer
Alma mater	Bridgewater State Teachers College, 1889[1]

Frank Palmer Speare (1869 – May 28, 1954) was the first president of Northeastern University, serving from 1898 to 1940.^{[citation needed]} He began the evening program at the Boston YMCA that later became Northeastern. As founding president, he oversaw the launching of the university's evening law school, the now-defunct automobile school, the evening polytechnic schools, the school of commerce and finance, and the co-operative engineering school.^{[citation needed]}

In addition to being an educator, he was also a sailor, farmer, and music enthusiast.^{[citation needed]} He composed songs ("Silver Bay, a Song of Vacation Days") and other music (the "Northeastern March"), plays (Mystic Waters, or The Spirit of Winnipesaukee), and musicals.^{[citation needed]}

• Frank Palmer Speare: Educational Visionary. Parr, Jessica. the online edition of a Northeastern University Libraries exhibition. Boston: Northeastern University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections, 2004. Contains numerous photographs plus biographical information.
• The Frank Palmer Speare papers, 1896-1951 are located in the Northeastern University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Department, Boston, MA.