President of Washington & Jefferson College
Encyclopedia
Washington & Jefferson College
Washington & Jefferson College
Washington & Jefferson College, also known as W & J College or W&J, is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, in the United States, which is south of Pittsburgh...

 is a private liberal arts college
Liberal arts colleges in the United States
Liberal arts colleges in the United States are certain undergraduate institutions of higher education in the United States. The Encyclopædia Britannica Concise offers a definition of the liberal arts as a "college or university curriculum aimed at imparting general knowledge and developing general...

 in Washington, Pennsylvania
Washington, Pennsylvania
Washington is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, within the Pittsburgh Metro Area in the southwestern part of the state...

, which is located in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County
Washington County, Pennsylvania
-Government and politics:As of November 2008, there are 152,534 registered voters in Washington County .* Democratic: 89,027 * Republican: 49,025 * Other Parties: 14,482...

 established by three Presbyterian missionaries to the American frontier in the 1780s: John McMillan
John McMillan (pastor)
John McMillan was a prominent Presbyterian minister and missionary in Western Pennsylvania when that area was part of the American Frontier. He founded the first school west of the Allegheny Mountains, which is now known as John McMillan's Log School...

, Thaddeus Dod
Thaddeus Dod
Thaddeus Dod was a prominent Presbyterian minister in Western Pennsylvania. He is one of the founders of Washington & Jefferson College....

, and Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith (preacher)
Joseph Smith was a prominent Presbyterian minister in Western Pennsylvania. He is one of the founders of Washington & Jefferson College....

. These early schools eventually grew into two competing academies and colleges, with Canonsburg Academy, later Jefferson College, located in Canonsburg
Canonsburg, Pennsylvania
Canonsburg is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, southwest of Pittsburgh. Canonsburg was laid out by Colonel John Canon in 1789 and incorporated in 1802....

 and Washington Academy, later Washington College, in Washington. These two colleges merged in 1865 to form Washington & Jefferson College.

The Office of the President is located in McMillan Hall
McMillan Hall
McMillan Hall is a building on the campus of Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania, United States. Built in 1793, it is the only surviving building from Washington Academy...

, which is the oldest building on campus, dating to 1793. Prior to 1912, the Office of the President was located in Old Main
Old Main (Washington & Jefferson College)
Old Main is the main academic building at Washington & Jefferson College. It is the predominant building on campus and has served virtually every student since its construction. Its two identical towers, added in 1875, symbolize the union of Washington College and Jefferson College to form...

, taking the two rooms on either side of that building's main entrance. The President's House is a 17-room Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...

 mansion on East Wheeling Street between the U. Grant Miller Library
U. Grant Miller Library
U. Grant Miller Library is the academic library for Washington & Jefferson College, located in Washington, Pennsylvania. With its origins tracing back to a donation from Benjamin Franklin in 1789, the collection currently hold 210,000 volumes. The Archives and Special Collections contain...

 and The Burnett Center
The Burnett Center
The Howard J. Burnett Center, also known as The Burnett Center, is an academic building on the campus of Washington & Jefferson College. This building, named after former President Howard J. Burnett, was completed in 2001 at a cost of $12.8 million...

. It was built in 1892 by the Duncan family
Duncan & Miller Glass Company
Duncan & Miller Glass Company was a well-known glass manufacturing company in Washington, Pennsylvania. Items that were produced by the company are known as "Duncan glass" or "Duncan Miller glass." The company was founded in 1865 by George Duncan with his two sons and son-in-law in the South Side...

 and is an archetypical Queen Anne Victorian
Queen Anne Style architecture
The Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...

 style building, with ornate "gingerbread" details, stained and beveled glass, recessed doors and windows, and louvered wooden shutters.

The president is the chief executive officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...

 of the college. According to the Washington & Jefferson College Charter, the president of the college is elected by the Board of Trustees, who can also remove him or her at will
At-will employment
At-will employment is a doctrine of American law that defines anemployment relationship in which either party can break the relationship with no liability, provided there was no express contract for a definite term governing the employment relationship and that the employer does not belong to a...

. The person holding this office must be an American citizen
Citizenship in the United States
Citizenship in the United States is a status given to individuals that entails specific rights, duties, privileges, and benefits between the United States and the individual...

 and is also considered to be a member of the teaching faculty. No one may be excluded from holding the presidency on "account of the religious sect or denomination to which he belongs or adheres, provided he shall demean himself in a soberly, orderly manner, and conform to the lawful rules and regulations of the college."

Two men, Andrew Wylie and Matthew Brown
Matthew Brown (college president)
Matthew Brown was a prominent Presbyterian minister and president of Washington College and Jefferson College. Next to John McMillan, Brown was the most important figure to education in Western Pennsylvania....

, each served as president of both Jefferson College and Washington College. Several early presidents of Jefferson College had close ties to John McMillan, including his son-in-law John Watson
John Watson (college president)
John Watson was the first principal and president of and professor of moral philosophy at Jefferson College.Watson, a native of Western Pennsylvania, was born in 1771 and was a student at Canonsburg Academy...

 and his nephew William McMillan
William McMillan (college president)
William McMillan was elected the fourth president of Jefferson College on September 24, 1817.McMillan was educated at Jefferson College, the institution founded by his uncle, the Rev. John McMillan, graduating with the Jefferson class of 1802, the first class to graduate from the newly chartered...

. James Dunlap
James Dunlap
James Dunlap was the second president of Jefferson College from 1803 to 1811. Dunlap was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, in 1744. He was graduate of the College of New Jersey and was reputed to have excelled as a teacher of languages...

 was one of McMillan's early students. Other Jefferson College presidents held strong bonds with Matthew Brown
Matthew Brown (college president)
Matthew Brown was a prominent Presbyterian minister and president of Washington College and Jefferson College. Next to John McMillan, Brown was the most important figure to education in Western Pennsylvania....

, including his son Alexander Blaine Brown
Alexander Blaine Brown
Alexander Blaine Brown was elected the seventh president of Jefferson College on October 14, 1847. The son of Matthew Brown, Jefferson College's fifth president, Brown was professor of belles lettres and adjunct professor of languages from 1841 to 1847. Under his presidency the college continued...

 and his protege and son-in-law David Hunter Riddle
David Hunter Riddle
David Hunter Riddle was the ninth and last president of Jefferson College from 1862 until its union with Washington College to form Washington & Jefferson College in 1865...

. James I. Brownson
James I. Brownson
James Irwin Brownson was a prominent clergyman and academic in Washington, Pennsylvania.Brownson was elected to the Board of Trustees of Washington College in 1849 served as President Pro Tem. there from July 13, 1852 until September 20, 1853...

, who was a long-time pastor at the First Presbyterian Church
First Presbyterian Church 1793
The First Presbyterian Church 1793, alternatively known as the First Presbyterian Church, is a Presbyterian church in Washington, Pennsylvania. It has been the de-facto college church for Washington & Jefferson College since the early 19th century....

, served two separate terms as president pro tempore
Pro tempore
Pro tempore , abbreviated pro tem or p.t., is a Latin phrase which best translates to "for the time being" in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a locum tenens in the absence of a superior, such as the President pro tempore of the United States Senate.Legislative...

, once for Washington College and later for Washington & Jefferson College. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Ralph Cooper Hutchison simultaneously served as president of the college and as Director of Civilian Defense for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Boyd Crumrine Patterson
Boyd Crumrine Patterson
Boyd Crumrine Patterson was the 9th president of Washington & Jefferson College.Patterson was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania on April 23, 1902 and graduated from Washington and Jefferson College in 1923, completing his studies in three years. He was a member of the well-known Crumrine family of...

 was the most recent Washington & Jefferson alumnus to serve as president. In 2004, Tori Haring-Smith
Tori Haring-Smith
-Education:Dr. Haring-Smith received a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College and doctoral and master's degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As an undergraduate, she received a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to study abroad.-Academic career:...

 became the first woman to serve as president.

Founding and early leadership

Washington & Jefferson College originates from three log cabin colleges established by John McMillan, Thaddeus Dod, and Joseph Smith, Presbyterian missionaries to the American frontier in the 1780s. John McMillan came to present-day Washington County in 1775 and built his college in 1780 near his church in Chartiers
Chartiers Township, Pennsylvania
Chartiers Township is a township in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 7,818 at the 2010 census. Along with the borough of Houston the township makes up the Chartiers-Houston School District.-Geography:...

, where he taught a mixture of college-level students and elementary students. Thaddeus Dod built his college in Lower Ten Mile in 1781, teaching mathematics and the classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...

. Joseph Smith taught classical studies in his college, called "The Study" at Buffalo
Buffalo Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania
Buffalo Township is a township in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,100 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which, of it is land and 0.05% is water.-Demographics:As of the census of...

.

In 1787, Washington Academy was officially chartered, and Thaddeus Dod was named the first principal on January 20, 1789, a position he held until July 1790. He was succeeded by David Johnson, who left for Canonsburg in July 1791. While the Washington Academy Board of Trustees still met during the period of unrest following the Whiskey Act and the subsequent Whiskey Rebellion
Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion, or Whiskey Insurrection, was a tax protest in the United States in the 1790s, during the presidency of George Washington. Farmers who sold their corn in the form of whiskey had to pay a new tax which they strongly resented...

, educational activities at the academy were essentially at a standstill. James Dobbins took control of the school between 1796 and 1801. Benjamin Mills followed, serving as principal from 1801 to 1805. In 1806, Matthew Brown
Matthew Brown (college president)
Matthew Brown was a prominent Presbyterian minister and president of Washington College and Jefferson College. Next to John McMillan, Brown was the most important figure to education in Western Pennsylvania....

 began his term that would end later that year with the chartering of Washington College.

Efforts to found the school that would become Canonsburg Academy began in October 1791. David Johnson was brought to Canonsburg from Washington Academy in July 1791. He taught several students there for a few years, before leaving in 1793. In 1798, John McMillan became the next person to hold the title of principal, then a largely ceremonial position. In 1802, the academy was chartered as "Jefferson College."

Presidents of Jefferson College

  • A "–" indicates that the individual served as president pro tempore
    Pro tempore
    Pro tempore , abbreviated pro tem or p.t., is a Latin phrase which best translates to "for the time being" in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a locum tenens in the absence of a superior, such as the President pro tempore of the United States Senate.Legislative...

    .

# Name Term begin Term end Notes References
1 John Watson
John Watson (college president)
John Watson was the first principal and president of and professor of moral philosophy at Jefferson College.Watson, a native of Western Pennsylvania, was born in 1771 and was a student at Canonsburg Academy...

August 29, 1802 November 30, 1802 Tutored by John McMillan
John McMillan (pastor)
John McMillan was a prominent Presbyterian minister and missionary in Western Pennsylvania when that area was part of the American Frontier. He founded the first school west of the Allegheny Mountains, which is now known as John McMillan's Log School...

 and attended Canonsburg Academy
2 James Dunlap
James Dunlap
James Dunlap was the second president of Jefferson College from 1803 to 1811. Dunlap was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, in 1744. He was graduate of the College of New Jersey and was reputed to have excelled as a teacher of languages...

April 27, 1803 April 25, 1811
3 Andrew Wylie April 29, 1812 April 1816 Graduate of Jefferson College (1810); later served as president of Washington College (1817–1828)
4 William McMillan
William McMillan (college president)
William McMillan was elected the fourth president of Jefferson College on September 24, 1817.McMillan was educated at Jefferson College, the institution founded by his uncle, the Rev. John McMillan, graduating with the Jefferson class of 1802, the first class to graduate from the newly chartered...

September 24, 1817 August 14, 1822 Graduate of Jefferson College (1802)
5 Matthew Brown
Matthew Brown (college president)
Matthew Brown was a prominent Presbyterian minister and president of Washington College and Jefferson College. Next to John McMillan, Brown was the most important figure to education in Western Pennsylvania....

September 25, 1822 September 27, 1845 Previously served as president of Washington College (1806–1817)
6 Robert Jefferson Breckinridge
Robert Jefferson Breckinridge
Robert Jefferson Breckinridge was a politician and Presbyterian minister. He was a member of the Breckinridge family of Kentucky, the son of Senator John Breckinridge....

January 2, 1845 June 9, 1847 Declined offer to assume the presidency of the united Washington & Jefferson College in 1865
7 Alexander Blaine Brown
Alexander Blaine Brown
Alexander Blaine Brown was elected the seventh president of Jefferson College on October 14, 1847. The son of Matthew Brown, Jefferson College's fifth president, Brown was professor of belles lettres and adjunct professor of languages from 1841 to 1847. Under his presidency the college continued...

October 14, 1847 August 1856
8 Joseph Alden
Joseph Alden
Joseph Alden was an American academic and Presbyterian pastor. He was born in Cairo, New York, in 1807.He received his bachelor's degree from Union College, going on to receive his advanced degrees from Columbia University.He was professor at Williams College in 1835, professor at Lafayette...

January 7, 1857 November 4, 1862
9 David Hunter Riddle
David Hunter Riddle
David Hunter Riddle was the ninth and last president of Jefferson College from 1862 until its union with Washington College to form Washington & Jefferson College in 1865...

November 4, 1862 March 4, 1865 Graduate of Jefferson College (1823)

Presidents of Washington College

# Name Term begin Term end Notes References
1 Matthew Brown
Matthew Brown (college president)
Matthew Brown was a prominent Presbyterian minister and president of Washington College and Jefferson College. Next to John McMillan, Brown was the most important figure to education in Western Pennsylvania....

December 16, 1806 April 30, 1817 Later served as president of Washington College (1822–1845)
2 Andrew Wylie April 30, 1817 December 9, 1828 Graduate of Jefferson College (1810); previously served as president of Jefferson College (1813–1816)
3 David Elliott
David Elliott (college president)
David Elliott was the third president of Washington College from 1830 to 1831.Following the resignation of Andrew Wylie, Washington College was temporarily suspended in 1829 due to the difficulty in finding a candidate willing to accept the presidency, and several Trustees resigned from the Board. ...

September 28, 1830 November 7, 1831
4 David McConaughy
David McConaughy (college president)
David McConaughy was the fourth president of Washington College from 1831 to 1852.McConaughy was born in York County, now Adams County, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Dickinson College in 1795 and went on to be the pastor of a church in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. McConaughy was elected president...

December 21, 1831 September 27, 1849
5 James Clark
James Clark (college president)
James Clark was the fifth president of Washington CollegeClark was born on March 9, 1812 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1830. He was ordained by the Presbyterian Church on November 8, 1837. Before and after his presidency at Washington...

May 6, 1850 July 13, 1852
James I. Brownson
James I. Brownson
James Irwin Brownson was a prominent clergyman and academic in Washington, Pennsylvania.Brownson was elected to the Board of Trustees of Washington College in 1849 served as President Pro Tem. there from July 13, 1852 until September 20, 1853...

July 13, 1852 September 20, 1853 Graduate of Washington College (1835); later served as president pro tempore of Washington & Jefferson College (1870)
6 John W. Scott
John W. Scott (college president)
John Work Scott was the sixth and last president of Washington College before its merger with Jefferson College to form Washington & Jefferson College....

November 10, 1852 March 4, 1865 Graduate of Jefferson College (1827)

Presidents of Washington & Jefferson College

# Name Term begin Term end Notes References
1 Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards (college president)
Jonathan Edwards was the 1st president of Washington & Jefferson College following the union of Washington College and Jefferson College.Edwards was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on July 19, 1817. He graduated from Hanover College in 1835 and from Hanover's theological department in 1838...

April 4, 1866 April 20, 1869
Samuel J. Wilson
Samuel J. Wilson
Samuel J. Wilson was a prominent 19th century clergyman and academic in Western Pennsylvania.Wilson was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania on July 19, 1828 and attended Washington College and was a student and teacher at the Western Theological Seminary in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania for...

April 20, 1869 August 4, 1869 Graduate of Washington College (1852)
James I. Brownson
James I. Brownson
James Irwin Brownson was a prominent clergyman and academic in Washington, Pennsylvania.Brownson was elected to the Board of Trustees of Washington College in 1849 served as President Pro Tem. there from July 13, 1852 until September 20, 1853...

February 1, 1870 August 3, 1870 Graduate of Washington College (1835); previously served as president pro tempore of Washington (1852–1853)
2 George P. Hays
George P. Hays (college president)
George Price Hays was the 2nd president of Washington & Jefferson College.Hays was born in Miller's Run, Pennsylvania on February 2, 1838. He studied at Jefferson College, graduating in 1857, and at the Western Theological Seminary . He was licensed to preach in 1859...

August 3, 1870 June 3, 1881 Graduate of Jefferson College (1857)
3 James D. Moffat
James D. Moffat
James David Moffat was the 3rd president of Washington & Jefferson College.Moffat, a native of New Lisbon, Ohio, was born on March 15, 1846. He spent his youth in St. Clairsville, Ohio and Bellaire, Ohio before working as a teacher and a bookkeeper. He entered Jefferson College in 1865 and...

November 16, 1881 April 15, 1914 Graduate of Washington & Jefferson College (1869)
4 Frederick W. Hinitt
Frederick W. Hinitt
Frederick W. Hinitt was the 4th president of Washington & Jefferson College.Hinitt was born on November 21, 1866, in Kidderminster, England, and his emigrated to the United States when he was young. In 1889, he graduated with distinction from Westminster College and from McCormick Theological...

September 23, 1914 June 30, 1918
William E. Slemmons
William E. Slemmons
William E. Slemmons was a prominent 19th century clergyman and academic in Western Pennsylvania.Slemmons was born in Cadiz, Ohio on December 1, 1855. He graduated from Princeton University in 1877 and from the Western Theological Seminary in 1887...

May 1918 June 1919
5 Samuel Charles Black
Samuel Charles Black
Samuel Charles Black was the fifth president of Washington & Jefferson College.Black was born on September 6, 1869, at Monticello, Iowa and graduated from Parsons College. He was Washington & Jefferson College on April 18, 1919 and was inaugurated October 22, 1919...

April 18, 1919 July 15, 1921
6 Simon Strousse Baker
Simon Strousse Baker
Simon Strousse Baker was the 6th president of Washington & Jefferson College.Baker, the great-great-grandson of Dr. Thaddeus Dod, the founder of Washington Academy, was born in Amwell Township, Pennsylvania on July 11, 1866. In 1892, he graduated from Washington & Jefferson College, where he played...

January 26, 1922 May 13, 1931 Graduate of Washington & Jefferson College (1892)
7 Ralph Cooper Hutchinson
Ralph Cooper Hutchinson
Ralph Cooper Hutchison was president of Washington & Jefferson College and Lafayette College.- Personal :...

November 13, 1931 May 7, 1945
8 James Herbert Case, Jr.
James Herbert Case, Jr.
James Herbert Case, Jr. was the 8th president of Washington & Jefferson College.Case was born on October 26, 1906 in Plainfield, New Jersey. He graduated from Princeton University in 1929 and served with the United States Navy. Later, he served as secretary of Brown University.He was elected...

May 4, 1946 March 25, 1950
9 Boyd Crumrine Patterson
Boyd Crumrine Patterson
Boyd Crumrine Patterson was the 9th president of Washington & Jefferson College.Patterson was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania on April 23, 1902 and graduated from Washington and Jefferson College in 1923, completing his studies in three years. He was a member of the well-known Crumrine family of...

March 24, 1950 June 30, 1970 Graduate of Washington & Jefferson College (1923)
10 Howard Jerome Burnett July 1, 1970 June 30, 1998
11 Brian C. Mitchell
Brian C. Mitchell
Brian Christopher Mitchell is the former president of Bucknell University, serving from 2004 until 2010. From 1998 through 2004, he served as President of Washington & Jefferson College. He is a nationally recognized expert in higher education, especially on private higher education...

June 2, 1998 July 1, 2004
G. Andrew Rembert March 5, 2004 October 11, 2004
12 Tori Haring-Smith
Tori Haring-Smith
-Education:Dr. Haring-Smith received a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College and doctoral and master's degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As an undergraduate, she received a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to study abroad.-Academic career:...

October 12, 2004 present

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK