Robert Finley

Robert Finley (1772 – October 3,1817) was briefly the president of the University of Georgia. Finley was born in Princeton, New Jersey, and graduated from Princeton University at the age of 15. He taught at several places, including Charleston, South Carolina, where many slaves existed. The Presbytery of New Brunswick, New Jersey licensed him as a minister in 1794. Finley returned to Princeton in 1793 to study Theology, and served as a tutor, eventually becoming a trustee of the university from 1806 until his resignation in 1817. In 1795, he was ordained as the Pastor of the Presbyterian Church at "Basking Ridge", where he served for 20 years as a popular preacher and noted educator, and originated the concept of the modern Sunday School curriculum..

Finley taught at the Princeton University Grammar SchoolLaurie, Maxine N.; and Mappen, Marc; "Encyclopedia of New Jersey": Rutgers University Press; 2004/2005. P. 273.] ; and at the Basking Ridge, New Jersey Classical School (Brick Academy), serving there from 1795 until his acceptance of the University of Georgia (UGA) presidency in July, 1817.

Dr. Finley and Samuel John Mills helped organize the "National Colonization Society of America" and the American Colonization Society at Washington, D.C. in 1816 and 1817.

Finley died after only three months at the University of Georgia and is buried in Jackson Street Cemetery on the school's north campus in Athens.

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* [http://www.libs.uga.edu/hargrett/pexhibit/presiden/home.html "From Ahmedunggar to Lavonia Presidents at the University of Georgia 1785-1997", University of Georgia Libraries, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library]