William Henry Scott (September 1, 1840 – January 11, 1937), born in

Athens, Ohio Athens is a city and the county seat of Athens County, Ohio. The population was 23,849 at the 2020 census. Located along the Hocking River within Appalachian Ohio about southeast of Columbus, Athens is best known as the home of Ohio Universit ...

, was the seventh President of

Ohio University Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...

from 1872 to 1883 and the third President of

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

from 1883 to 1895. Scott received his college degree from Ohio University. He was the first alumni of the university to be its president. Scott was born in Chauncey, Ohio which is in

Athens County, Ohio Athens County is a county in southeastern Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 62,431. Its county seat is Athens. The county was formed in 1805 from Washington County. Because the original state university (Ohio University) was fo ...

as is Ohio University. He was of Scotch-Irish descent, his great-grandfather Andrew Scott and his grandfather John Scott having immigrated from Ireland in 1790. His father Alexander Scott was born in Zanesville, Ohio in 1808. His father was a miller and moved the family to

McConnellsville, Ohio McConnelsville is a village in Morgan County, Ohio, United States located 21 miles southeast of Zanesville and 26 miles northwest of Marietta. The population was 1,784 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Morgan County. As of October ...

when he was two. His early education was at a Methodist run school in McConnelville until he was 10 when a public school was opened in that place. He began at the high school there when he was 12 in 1852. He began a teacher at a small rural school at age 16 in 1856. In 1859 his family relocated to

and he enrolled in Ohio University. Scott earned his college degree in 1862. He was that same year made superintendent of public schools in Athens, Ohio. In this position he taught most of the courses at the high school and oversaw all the other schools and teachers in the district. He then became a Methodist minister in 1864. He was made the pastor at

Chillicothe, Ohio Chillicothe ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ross County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Scioto River 45 miles (72 km) south of Columbus, Chillicothe was the first and third capital of Ohio. It is the only city in Ross Count ...

. In 1867 he was made a pastor in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

. In 1869 he was made a professor of Greek language at Ohio University. He became president of Ohio University in 1872. As president of Ohio University he managed to get the endowment reorganized and also get legislative support for the university. In 1883 Scott left Ohio University to take the lead of Ohio State University. He was given a chair in philosophy at the same time he was made university president. He only was president of the university for two years but continued with the chair of philosophy until he retired in 1910 at age 70.Cope, ''Ohio State'', p. 360

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