- John Hiram Lathrop
John Hiram Lathrop was a well-known American educator during the early 19th century . He served as the first President of both the University of Missouri [ [http://www.umsystem.edu/ums/president/former.shtml Former Presidents | Office of the President | University of Missouri ] ] and the University of Wisconsin as well as president of
Indiana University .Early life
John Lathrop was born in
Sherburne, New York in 1799. He attendedYale University , graduating in 1819 and teaching for three years atFarmington, Connecticut . He later became a tutor at hisalma mater from 1822 till 1826 when he was admitted to the bar and practiced atMiddletown, Connecticut . He also spent some time teaching inNorwich, Vermont andGardiner, Maine . In 1829 he became professor of mathematics and natural philosophy atHamilton College inClinton, New York .First term at the University of Missouri
The University of Missouri was founded in 1839 as the first public or state university west of the
Mississippi River . Professor Lathrop was chosen as its first president in 1840, a position he held until 1849. He is credited with laying the foundations for the university's first century.University of Wisconsin
In 1849, Lathrop was elected the first chancellor of the University of Wisconsin in Madison. During his tenure as chancellor, he established the academic setting at the university, and he recommended the university's seal and motto, "Numen Lumen." He was nominated for the position of first
President of the University of Michigan in 1852 afterHenry Barnard declined the job, butHenry Philip Tappan was elected instead. He resigned in 1858 due to problems with the regents and legislature, but remained the acting chancellor until Henry Barnard officially became the chancellor in 1859.econd term at the University of Missouri
After resigning the presidency of
Indiana University in 1859 after only one year, he returned to the University of Missouri as a professor of English literature. He was re-elected president in 1865, the only president ever to hold two separate terms, and held that office till his death in 1866.References
* [http://archives.library.wisc.edu/chancellors/chancellors.htm Chancellors and Presidents of the University of Wisconsin-Madison]
* [http://www.darcisplace.com/darci/lathrop.htm An excerpt from "Wisconsin: Its Story and Biography, 1848-1913" (Lathrop's biography, pp. 2126-2131)]ee also
*
History of the University of Missouri -
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