John Rennie Blake was the faculty chairman in charge of

Davidson College Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after Revolutionary War general William Lee Davidson, who was killed at the nearby Battle of Cowan� ...

from 1871 to 1877. After the death of

George Wilson McPhail Reverend George Wilson McPhail D.D. (December 26, 1815 – June 28, 1871) was a Presbyterian minister, and educator who served as the sixth president of Lafayette College, a director at Princeton Theological Seminary, and as the fifth president of ...

, the position of president was vacated as the college opted to elect a faculty member, Blake, to oversee the college until

Andrew Dousa Hepburn Andrew Dousa Hepburn (November 14, 1830 – February 14, 1921) was a Presbyterian pastor, professor and President of Miami University and Davidson College. Hepburn was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, to Samuel Hepburn, a lawyer and judge, and ...

was appointed in 1877. Because Blake was not an ordained minister, he was ineligible to become president according to the college's constitution. It was during his tenure that

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

and

Robert Broadnax Glenn Robert Broadnax Glenn (August 11, 1854 – May 16, 1920) was the 51st Governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1905 to 1909. Early life and career A native of Rockingham County, North Carolina, Glenn was born to Chalmers Lanier Glen ...

enrolled as students.

References

External links

Biography from the Davidson College Archives & Special Collections
1825 births 1900 deaths Presidents of Davidson College People from Greenwood, South Carolina University of Georgia alumni Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences alumni {{US-academic-administrator-1820s-stub