William Joseph Martin Jr. was the tenth president 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� ...

, being installed as president in 1912. Martin, the son of a Confederate veteran who was also a professor at Davidson, graduated from Davidson in 1888. After receiving advanced degrees from the University of Virginia and further instruction at Johns Hopkins University, Martin eventually found his way back to Davidson as a chemistry professor. As president, Martin steered the college through World War I, when many students left college to fight, by bringing a

Student Army Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...

program to campus. Also, the main academic building, Chambers Building, burned down but Martin was able to secure funding to replace the building. Martin also established a relationship with the Duke Endowment, a relationship that exists still today. After his retirement, Martin left to work in the PCUSA training school, but returned to Davidson to teach. The main chemistry building at Davidson is named in his honor.

References

Presidents of Davidson College 1868 births 1943 deaths {{US-academic-administrator-1860s-stub