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 The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

and further instruction at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

, Martin eventually found his way back to Davidson as a chemistry professor. As president, Martin steered the college through

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 ...

, 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 The Duke Endowment is a private foundation established in 1924 by industrialist and philanthropist James B. Duke. It supports selected programs of higher education, health care, children's welfare, and spiritual life in North Carolina and South C ...

, 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