John Huston Finley
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

John Huston Finley (October 19, 1863 – March 7, 1940) was Professor of Polities at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
from 1900 to 1903, and President of the City College of New York from 1903 until 1913, when he was appointed President of the
University of the State of New York The University of the State of New York (USNY, ) is the state of New York's governmental umbrella organization for both public and private institutions in New York State. The "university" is not an educational institution: it is, in fact, a lic ...
and
Commissioner of Education of the State of New York The Commissioner of Education of the State of New York is the head of the State Education Department, chosen by the Board of Regents. The Commissioner also serves as the President of the University of the State of New York The University of the ...
. A promenade along the western bank of the East River between 63rd Street and 125th Street in Manhattan was named the John Finley Walk in 1940 because he had often walked the perimeter of Manhattan.


Biography

He was born on October 19, 1863 in Grand Ridge, Illinois, the oldest son of James Gibson Finley and Lydia Margaret McCombs. His father and mother went out as early settlers on the prairies from the East. His father was the great-grandson of the Reverend James Finley, the first minister, it is believed, to settle permanently beyond the
Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...
in
Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...
, and brother of Dr.
Samuel Finley Samuel Finley (July 2, 1715 – July 17, 1766) was an Irish-born American Presbyterian minister and academic. He founded the West Nottingham Academy and was the fifth president and an original trustee of the College of New Jersey (later ren ...
, President of the College of New Jersey (now
Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
) in the middle of the eighteenth century. Mr. Finley’s brother, Robert, who died in his early thirties, was associate editor of the ''
Review of Reviews The ''Review of Reviews'' was a noted family of monthly journals founded in 1890–1893 by British reform journalist William Thomas Stead (1849–1912). Established across three continents in London (1891), New York (1892) and Melbourne (1893), t ...
''; his sister, Bertha, died as a missionary in
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
. Finley was educated in the public schools of Grand Ridge, Ottawa Township High School, and Knox College,
Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical ...
, receiving the degree of A.B. and A.M., and afterward took up post-graduate work at the
Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
. He was valedictorian of his class at Knox and won the interstate prize in oratory in 1887. He was made an honorary member of the Northwestern chapter of
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...
. He was Secretary of the Illinois State Charities Aid Association, 1889–1892, and President of Knox College, 1892-1899. In the latter year, he went to New York, but after a year in the editorial departments of the publishing houses of Harpers and
McClure's ''McClure's'' or ''McClure's Magazine'' (1893–1929) was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with having started the tradition of muckraking journalism ( investigative, wa ...
, returned to educational work, upon an invitation to take a newly established chair at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
. He was Professor of Polities at Princeton from 1900–1903, and President of the College of the City of New York from 1903 until 1913, when he was appointed President of the
University of the State of New York The University of the State of New York (USNY, ) is the state of New York's governmental umbrella organization for both public and private institutions in New York State. The "university" is not an educational institution: it is, in fact, a lic ...
and
Commissioner of Education of the State of New York The Commissioner of Education of the State of New York is the head of the State Education Department, chosen by the Board of Regents. The Commissioner also serves as the President of the University of the State of New York The University of the ...
. He was also
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
exchange lecturer on the Hyde Foundation at the
Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...
in Paris from 1910 to 1911. During
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
he headed the
Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...
Commission in Palestine. Finley was appointed ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' associate editor in 1921. On April 21, 1937, ''The Times'' announced Dr. Finley's appointment as editor-in-chief. He held that position until Nov. 16, 1938, when because of poor health he took the title of
editor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
. Finley was president of the
American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows from around the ...
from 1925 to 1934. He remained an honorary president there until his death. His position on the ''Times'' placed him in contact with the great explorers and fliers of the day, who signed their names for him on a
terrestrial globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe ...
, which he presented to the Society in 1929. He also served on the board of trustees for Science Service, now known as
Society for Science & the Public Society for Science, formerly known as Science Service and later Society for Science and the Public, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of science, through its science education programs and publications, including ...
, from 1925-1940. John H. Finley died while sleeping of a
coronary embolism An embolism is the lodging of an embolus, a blockage-causing piece of material, inside a blood vessel. The embolus may be a blood clot (thrombus), a fat globule (fat embolism), a bubble of air or other gas ( gas embolism), amniotic fluid (am ...
the morning of March 7, 1940 in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
.


Legacy

During his long and distinguished career he received
honorary degrees An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...
from over thirty colleges and universities, and twelve governments bestowed thirteen decorations on him. In 1939 he was awarded Honorary Membership in the
American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...
.American Library Association, Honorary Membership
/ref>


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Finley, John Huston American newspaper editors The New York Times editors 1863 births 1940 deaths Knox College (Illinois) alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni Princeton University faculty Presidents of City College of New York State University of New York people Harvard University staff University of Paris faculty Burials at Princeton Cemetery Commissioners of Education of the State of New York People from LaSalle, Illinois Journalists from Illinois American Geographical Society Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters