Frank Strong (August 5, 1859 – August 6, 1934)Obituary
in the Citizen Advertiser of

Auburn, New York Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States. Located at the north end of Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in Central New York, the city had a population of 26,866 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city of Cayuga County, the ...

of Friday, August 10, 1934 was the third president of the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

from 1899 to 1902 and sixth

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

from 1902 to 1920. Strong was born on August 5, 1859, in Venice Center, New York, a son of Mary Foote and John Butler Strong.William E. Connelley
Frank Strong
in ''A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans'', Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1918. He graduated from the

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

and between 1886–88 was a lawyer in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

. He left his law practice to become principal of a high school in

St Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which inclu ...

. Here he met Mary Evelyn Ransom; they married on June 24, 1890, and raised two children. In 1892 he became superintendent of the

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

school district. Strong then returned to

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

to obtain a Ph.D in 1897 with his dissertation ''Cromwell's colonial and foreign policy, with special reference to the West Indies expedition of 1654-5''. There he received the

John Addison Porter John Addison Porter (March 15, 1822 – August 25, 1866) was an American professor of chemistry and physician. He is the namesake of the John Addison Porter Prize and was a founder of the Scroll and Key senior society of Yale University. Academ ...

Prize and was lecturer in United States history from 1897-1899. Strong wrote some works on the colonial history of the United States. Subsequently, president of the

from 1899 to 1902, he went to the University of Kansas next. Strong stormed onto

campus A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-like se ...

declaring that KU was woefully inadequate and that much more money was needed. In return, KU would graduate students capable of solving the state's economic and industrial problems, he said. He won increased funding and founded the schools of education, journalism and medicine and expanded extension programs. Four more buildings were completed before he resigned to teach law. "Previous Chancellors" Strong died at his home in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

on August 6, 1934, the day after his 75th birthday. He is interred at the

Fort Hill Cemetery Fort Hill Cemetery is a cemetery located in Auburn, New York, United States. It was incorporated on May 15, 1851 under its official name: "Trustees of the Fort Hill Cemetery Association of Auburn". It is known for its headstones of notable people ...

. Strong Hall on the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence is named after Chancellor Strong. The building is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

and contains offices, classrooms, and an auditorium.

Bibliography

*Frank Strong (1898)
Benjamin Franklin: A Character Sketch
', University Association Press *Frank Strong (1899)
A Forgotten Danger of the New England Colonies
', in the ''Annual Report of the American Historical Association'', U.S. Government Printing Office, pp 77–138. *Frank Strong (1899) ''The Causes of Cromwell's West Indian Expedition'', ''The American Historical Review'' Vol. 4, 1899, Pages 228–245. *Frank Strong and Joseph Shafer (1901) ''Government of the American People'', Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston and New York

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Frank 1859 births 1934 deaths 19th-century American educators 20th-century American educators 19th-century American historians 19th-century American male writers Chancellors of the University of Kansas Presidents of the University of Oregon Educators from New York (state) People from Cayuga County, New York Yale Law School alumni Yale University alumni American male non-fiction writers Historians from New York (state)