Another Scotsman, McLean came to this country as a boy with his widowed mother. He was a product of the academy tradition, graduating from the Brockport Collegiate Institute in 1850, which makes him the only graduate of the school to become its principal or president. After studying and practicing law for several years, McLean went into teaching, and accepted a position at Brockport teaching Mathematics and Pedagogy in 1865. In 1867 he succeeded MacVicar as head of the school, a position he held for the next thirty years, giving him the longest tenure of any principal or president. McLean had many influences on the school. He was a supporter of the Greek letter societies which arose circa 1870 and was a member of the first such society, Gamma Sigma, which was established in 1869. Greek letter societies, or "Literary Societies," as they were known, played a very significant role in the school throughout the Normal School era. Principal McLean was remembered as a strict disciplinarian, an energetic and effective teacher, an athlete who pitched for the "Brockport Nine" and as one who was generous of his time and money with students in need. McLean Hall is named after him.

Charles McLean tendered his retirement at the end of the 1898 school year, and Principal Smith was appointed from a long list of candidates to replace him. He was from Cortland, New York and was a graduate of the Michigan State Normal School in Ypsilanti. Principal Smith possessed a Doctorate of Philosophy granted by Syracuse University and was an author of approximately fifty mathematical textbooks as well. Dr. Smith chose to emphasize the professional nature of the Normal School and pushed for more modern curriculum. One of Dr. Smith's changes was the addition of Jeanette Reynolds, the school's first librarian in 1900. This new appointment indicated an enhanced status for the position and showed the importance of the library in the educational process at Brockport. Dr. Smith felt that the New York educational system lacked significantly when compared to Michigan and he requested more money from the State to improve things. In 1901 this caused his resignation, as he felt the necessity for more money was preventing him from making changes he saw as necessary. Dr. Smith went on to take a position as Professor at Columbia Teachers College where the "David Eugene Smith Library of Mathematics" stands.

Principal McFarlane was born in New Berlin, New York and was educated at the College of the City of New York and the Normal School in Albany. He did additional graduate work at the University of Vienna and Harvard University, and received both Master's and Doctor's degrees in Pedagogy from the Michigan State Normal School. Prior to coming to Brockport, McFarlane had been teaching Geography at Ypsilanti in Michigan and was a close friend of Dr. Smith. Principal McFarlane choose to further Smith's work and curricular changes by developing a more professional approach to education.

Principal Thompson was a well educated man who graduated from Yale in 1892, and studied psychology and pedagogy at Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, Germany. Like Charles MacLean he was also an athelete, having played football at Yale in the dangerous days of the "flying wedge," and in later life retained a keen interest in sports. He presided over the school during a time of many changes in the curriculum. Education has its trends and fads as do other areas of life and there was a struggle in education during Thompson's era between those who favored emphasizing pedagogy and those who favored stressing subject mastery. There was also a trend towards a longer time in school, moving from two years to obtain the teaching certificate when Thompson first came to three years when he left. In a collection of notes on Thompson published in the Stylus upon his retirement Charles Cooper, long head of the training school, noted that Thompson had the ability to, "...adjust himself to changing conditions and developing needs. He was never carried away with the spurious cry of utility. Intolerant of the shams, the superficialities, and the opportunisms of changing times he devoted his talents to the things he considered fundamental in a changing society." Thompson Hall is named after him.

Ernest Hartwell grew up in a part of Michigan that had been settled by emigrants from this part of New York. After finishing his education at the University of Michigan, he taught school, and served a school superintendent in several communities, including Buffalo where he was school superintendent before coming here. Like Malcolm MacVicar his time here was relatively short, but as MacVicar did, he led the school through a crucial period of its history. Brockport in the mid 1930s was a school that faced grave problems. A major difficulty was that the physical plant was in poor condition and inadequate in size. There were rumors that the school might even be closed due to state budget problems.

Working with a group of concerned local citizens, the "Committee of One Hundred," Hartwell won state and federal funding for a new building, which was named Harwell Hall in 1965. At the same time, Hartwell was working with other educators in the state to win legislative approval for transforming Brockport and its peers from 3 year Normal Schools to 4 year Teachers Colleges entitled to grant the bachelors degree. This effort did succeed, and in 1942 Brockport State Normal School became Brockport State Teachers College.

Ernest Hartwell was a formal man guided by a strict sense of right and wrong, and he was a man who took a keen interest in the personal development of the students. Many alumni remember the time he spent guiding them through struggles with various problems, and he is known to have even provided financial support at times.