A United States university professor was taken into protective custody after he took off his clothes in front of the class and started shouting at the students.

A call came in to the local police dispatch centre "about a man in the Michigan State University Engineering Building shouting in the hallway", a statement posted on the university website said.

"MSU police responded and took the man, a university professor, into protective custody and transported him to a local hospital," the ABC News quoted the University website as saying.

"No one was injured and the professor is not being charged with a crime," it said.

Students posting on social media named the professor, but the university spokesman did not confirm the man's identity. A student from the university posted a photo on a social media website with the comment, "My math teacher just stripped naked during class and was arrested! Go MSU!" "I was in Calc 1 at Michigan State University, and my teacher was always pretty eccentric, but today he went overboard. Half way through class he started screaming at us, swearing left and right," said a student.

"He then started slamming his hands on the window and pressing his face against it, still screaming. Eventually he walked out and down the hallway to the end, all while screaming. "He then came back into the classroom and took off his clothes, except for his socks. You know someone's crazy when they leave their socks on lmao. At this point everyone in class ran out. We were literally scared for our lives.

The police took about 15 minutes to get here and during this time he continued walking around screaming," the student said.

According to the university, the school's counselling centre "has reached out to students who may have witnessed the incident to offer any support they need."