Willard Preston (1785–1856) was the fourth president of the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

, and was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity by the University of Georgia after 25 years of service to the Independent Presbyterian Church of Savannah.

Early life

Preston was born in

Uxbridge, Massachusetts Uxbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts first colonized in 1662 and incorporated in 1727. It was originally part of the town of Mendon, MA, Mendon, and named for the Marquess of Anglesey, Earl of Uxbridge. The town is located south ...

, on May 29, 1785. He was educated in Uxbridge. He graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in 1806 and served churches at Uxbridge, in

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

, and

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

Academics

In 1825, he became the fourth President of the University of Vermont UVM. During his tenure, the Marquis de Layfayette laid the cornerstone of the south College of UVM. He pastored the well known Independent Presbyterian church of

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

for over 25 years. He received an honorary DD from the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, prior to his death in 1856. Preston had several bound volumes of published sermons and is perhaps best known for a farewell sermon at St. Albans, Vermont, and a sermon during a period of national fasting and mourning on the death of President Harrison in 1841. Preston died at his home in

, on April 26, 1856.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Preston, Willard Educators from Massachusetts People from Uxbridge, Massachusetts Brown University alumni Presidents of the University of Vermont People from Savannah, Georgia 1785 births 1856 deaths 19th-century American educators