Raymond George Bressler, Sr. (1887-1948) was an American educator with expertise in American literature and agricultural extension who served as a university administrator in Texas and Pennsylvania, and served as president of Rhode Island State College (forerunner of the University of Rhode Island) from 1931 to 1940. While serving as president during the Great Depression, Bressler managed decreasing student enrollments and ambitious building projects on campus primarily funded by the Works Progress Administration. Despite his success in guiding the numerous building projects and his popularity among students and faculty, he fell into political disfavor with the college's board of trustees, leading to his forced retirement in 1940. Despite Bressler's disfavor with the trustees, the newly el