Henry Sanborn Noyes (December 24, 1822 – May 24, 1872) was an American academic who served as interim president of

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

from 1854 to 1856, and again from 1860 to 1867.

Biography

Noyes was born in Landaff, New Hampshire, on December 24, 1822, to devout

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

parents. He was graduated from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...

like many of Northwestern's presidents and early professors. Noyes graduated (in 1848) from the university just 9 years after Clark T. Hinman, the first president of Northwestern, graduated from the institution. Noyes actually studied under Hinman at Newbury Seminary in

Montpelier, Vermont Montpelier () is the capital city of the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Washington County. The site of Vermont's state government, it is the least populous state capital in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population ...

(where Hinman was president at the time) shortly thereafter. After Hinman's departure from Newbury Seminary in 1853, Noyes himself became its president. When Clark Hinman and a group of other Chicago-area Methodists decided to establish a new university near

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, to serve the old Northwest Territory, Hinman remembered working with Noyes and asked Noyes to join the new faculty. Noyes was one of the two original faculty members of the university when it opened in 1855 and served (primarily) as professor of mathematics. When Clark Hinman, the first president of the university, died in 1854, Noyes served as interim president until the election of Randolph S. Foster in 1856. Then, when Foster abdicated his position as president in 1860, Noyes once again served as interim president (1860 to 1867). During his time at Northwestern, Noyes intermittently served a variety of positions alongside his teaching duties (e.g. serving as Secretary of the Board of Trustees and as the university's financial agent).

References

* Arthur Herbert Wilde: ''Northwestern University: A History, 1855–1905'', pp. 219–237 (available in full text a
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1822 births 1872 deaths Wesleyan University alumni Presidents of Northwestern University Methodist ministers Methodist writers People from Evanston, Illinois Mathematicians from New Hampshire Mathematicians from Illinois People from Landaff, New Hampshire {{US-mathematician-stub