John Decatur Messick

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = John Decatur Messick

| image = John Decatur Messick.jpg

| caption = Messick pictured in The Buccaneer 1948, East Carolina yearbook

| title = President of the
East Carolina Teachers College

| term_start = 1947

| term_end = 1959

| predecessor = Dennis Hargrove Cooke

| successor = Leo Warren Jenkins

| birth_date = {{birth date|1897|11|9}}

| birth_place = near Aurora, North Carolina, U.S.

| death_place = Wilmington, North Carolina, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1993|10|3|1897|11|9}}

}}

John Decatur Messick (November 9, 1897 – October 3, 1993) was the fifth president of what is now East Carolina University. He was born on November 9, 1897, near Aurora, North Carolina. He graduated from Elon College in 1922. He then went to summer school to complete graduate work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1934, he earned a Ph.D. from New York University.

In 1947, Messick became the fifth President of East Carolina Teachers College, a position he held until resigning in 1959.{{cite web |title=Records of the Chancellor: Records of John Decatur Messick, 1947-1959 |url=https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/special/ead/findingaids/ua02-05 |website=East Carolina University |publisher=University Archives |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231001183118/https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/special/ead/findingaids/ua02-05 |access-date=18 February 2024|archive-date=2023-10-01 }}

From 1965 to 1968, Messick was the Executive Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs for Oral Roberts University.{{cite news |last1=Riggsbee |first1=Shea |title=John Messick, who guided ECU's growth |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-and-observer/104585411/ |access-date=18 February 2024 |work=The News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina) |date=4 October 1993}}{{cite news |last1=Ulseth |first1=Darlene |title=Dr. Messick Resigns As Dean of Academic Affairs |url=https://digitalshowcase.oru.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&context=oracle |access-date=18 February 2024 |work=The Oracle (Oral Roberts University student newspaper) |issue=6 |date=4 February 1968|volume=3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230904162418/https://digitalshowcase.oru.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&context=oracle |archive-date=2023-09-04 }}