WESTBROOK – A former president of New Hampshire’s Keene State College was killed and another motorist injured early Friday in a two-car crash that closed a section of Route 22 for three hours.

Leo F. Redfern, 79, of Bowdoinham was dead at the scene, police said.

The other driver, James Weeks, 22, of Windham, was transported to Maine Medical Center, where he was listed in fair condition.

The two vehicles collided head-on shortly before 5 a.m. after Weeks apparently crossed into Redfern’s lane, said police Capt. Mike Lambert.

“Right now, we are still trying to determine how the accident occurred,” Lambert said. “As soon as we are able to, we’ll interview the other driver.”

Redfern, who served as college president from 1969 to 1979, was on his way to the school’s alumni reunion weekend, said David Orsman, a Keene State spokesman.

“It is with shock and sadness that we heard this morning of Leo Redfern’s death. I, and many others, will miss him greatly,” college President Stanley J. Yarosewick said.

Redfern oversaw Keene State’s transition from a teachers college to a liberal arts school during his tenure and in that time, enrollment increased 60 percent.

He also believed a great liberal arts college required an arts center and helped convince the New Hampshire Legislature to help pay for the center that now bears his name.

A New Hampshire native, Redfern was dean of administration at the University of Massachusetts when he was appointed president at Keene State. He took over at a time of student protests, faculty divisions and strains with the board of trustees.

But, in time, the combination of faculty union struggles and bureaucratic concerns soured him on higher education – and education in general.

At the time of his resignation, Redfern told the Keene Sentinel, “The academic world and educational administration are, I find, no longer the same kind of exciting, stimulating and rewarding endeavors I knew 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago.

“A more somber mood, and a much less interesting one, pervades almost all college communities these days. Something that made campus work an enjoyable and worthwhile calling is now largely missing,” he added.

Yarosewick said the college grew not only in size but also in academic stature under Redfern’s stewardship.

“Until his death, he remained a close and loyal friend of the college, and his legacy in the arts is very much alive in the form of the Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond,” Yarosewick said.