William Hersey Hopkins (December 20, 1841 – December 17, 1919) was an American academic who served as the first president of Goucher College and acting president of St. John's College in

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

Early life and education

Hopkins was born on December 20, 1841, in Greensboro, Maryland, to James Hopkins and Elizabeth Clarke Lyden. In 1851, his family moved to Annapolis, Maryland, and he enrolled at the preparatory school at St. John's College. He remained at the school for his post-secondary education, where his strong academic performance resulted in his being elected

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

of his class.

Academic career

After his graduation in 1859, Hopkins was employed by St. John's as an instructor until the college's temporary closure during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. In the interim, he taught at Anne Arundel County Academy, later becoming its principal. In 1866, Hopkins returned to St. John's, eventually rising to the position of vice president. When St. John's then-president John McDowell Leavitt resigned in 1884, Hopkins was selected to serve as acting president. He held this position for two years and left in 1886 after accepting an offer to serve as the first president of the newly formed Women's College of Baltimore, now Goucher College. As Goucher's first president, Hopkins played an influential role in its early formation. Prior to the college opening its doors in 1888, he conducted regular fundraising and worked to assemble the college's starting eight-member faculty, including co-founder

John B. Van Meter John Blackford Van Meter (September 6, 1842 – April 8, 1930) was an American Methodist minister, educator, and the co-founder of Goucher College. Van Meter also served as the college's first dean and as acting president from 1911 to 1913. Ear ...

. During his tenure, enrollment doubled from about 140 to over 280 and the school was recognized in an 1892 report by United States Commissioner of Education

William Torrey Harris William Torrey Harris (September 10, 1835 – November 5, 1909) was an American educator, philosopher, and lexicographer. He worked for nearly a quarter century in St. Louis, Missouri, where he taught school and served as Superintendent of School ...

as a "Division A" college for women, along with 13 others. Despite his efforts, Hersey described facing significant difficulties as a fundraiser, later saying the experience "nearly crushed him." Hopkins resigned in 1890 and was succeeded by John Franklin Goucher, who became the school's namesake upon its renaming in 1910. Hopkins remained on Goucher's faculty as a professor in

classical studies Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

Personal life

In 1870, Hopkins married Eliza Brook Brady, who was also from Annapolis. In 1915, he was granted an honorary Doctor of Laws from Goucher. Hopkins died on December 17, 1919, at his daughter's home in

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

, three days before his 78th birthday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkins, William Hersey St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe) faculty St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe) alumni Presidents of Goucher College People from Caroline County, Maryland 1841 births 1919 deaths 19th-century American educators 20th-century American educators Educators from Maryland American classical scholars