Frederick A. Meier, the seventh President of Salem State College, was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut on December 22, 1910. He attended Boston College, receiving a B.S. degree in Chemistry in 1932 and a M.S. degree in 1933. In 1950, he completed his studies for the Ed.D degree at Indiana University.

He began his teaching career as head of the Science Department at Whitman High School. In 1936, he joined the staff at Bridgewater State College as Director of Physical Education and Professor of Biology. In 1938, he became Dean of Men. Meier enlisted in the Air Force in 1942 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant; after the war he returned to Bridgewater State.

He was appointed President of the State Teachers College at Salem in 1954. Like colleges around the country, Salem State experienced its most dramatic growth in enrollment, facilities, personnel, and academic programs during the post-World War II period. Most notable were the changes in the academic program. The year after Meier arrived, the Division of Graduate Education was established, offering the Master of Education degree and the Master of Arts in Teaching. In 1956, Salem offered its first alternative to an education degree when it added a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration to the curriculum. Salem was allowed to offer the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1964, and quickly developed programs in biology, chemistry, economics, mathematics, history, and English. Reflecting the changes in curriculum, the college changed its name from State Teachers College at Salem to State College at Salem in 1960 and finally to Salem State College in 1963.

Meier also initiated a major program in building construction. With the help of federal and state funds, Meier initiated the construction of the Arts and Sciences Building (now Meier Hall), Ellison Campus Center, Bowditch Hall, Peabody Hall, the power plant, the bell tower, and the library.

Salem State was not immune to the growing student unrest that swept colleges around the country. During the final years of Meier's tenure, controversies over student rights, the dress code, and censorship of the Log erupted. Meier retired from the presidency in 1970 and returned to teaching as a professor of secondary education at Bridgewater State College. He died in 1999 at the age of 88.