William Woolford Skinner (March 28, 1874 – March 10, 1953) was an American chemist, conservationist, and college football coach. He served as the head coach at the

Maryland Agricultural College Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to it ...

(now University of Maryland) and

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

Early life and college

Skinner was born in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

on March 28, 1874, and raised in

Cambridge, Maryland Cambridge is a city in Dorchester County, Maryland, United States. The population was 13,096 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Dorchester County and the county's largest municipality. Cambridge is the fourth most populous city in Mary ...

.C. G. Church (ed.)
''Alumni Record of the Maryland Agricultural College''
p. 44–47, 1914. He enrolled at the Maryland Agricultural College in 1891. In 1892, he became the football team's first quarterback and head coach. During that inaugural season, Maryland went scoreless to finish with a 0–3 record. In 1894, he was instrumental in the formation of the

Maryland Intercollegiate Football Association The Maryland Intercollegiate Football Association (MIFA), also called the Maryland Intercollegiate League, was an early college football conference with a membership composed of schools located primarily in the state of Maryland. One exception was ...

, which was created to award the state football championship.David Ungrady,
Tales from the Maryland Terrapins
', 2003, p. 4–6, Sports Publishing LLC, . In 1895, Skinner graduated from the MAC as the

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 ...

. He earned a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

through its "Agricultural-Scientific" course.

Professional career

Upon graduation, Skinner took a job at his alma mater as an assistant chemist, and enrolled in graduate school at Columbian University (now the George Washington University) in 1896. He graduated with an M.S. from Columbian in 1898. In 1899, Skinner married Georgia née Mitchell, with whom he later had a daughter. From 1899 to 1901, he served in an assistant chemist post at the

. While there, he also studied

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

and coached the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all-s ...

in 1900 and 1901.Will Skinner
, College Football Data Warehouse, retrieved June 2, 2010. He guided Arizona to 3–1 and 4–1 records, respectively. In 1904, Skinner studied

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

and

physical chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistica ...

at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

. That summer, he worked as a chemist at the University of Arizona School of Mines. Following that, he took a job as a food inspection chemist with the Bureau of Chemistry of the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

, where he worked until 1908. Skinner then became the chief of the bureau's Water Laboratory. In 1911, the Maryland Agriculture College awarded him an honorary M.S. degree. As of 1914, Skinner was living in

Kensington, Maryland Kensington is a town in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. The population was 2,213 at the 2010 United States Census. Greater Kensington encompasses the entire 20895 ZIP code, with a population of 19,054. History The area around th ...

and continuing his work as the chief of the Water Laboratory. ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by T ...

'' described Skinner as "a nationally prominent agricultural chemist and one of the nation's foremost conservationists, who was one of the first researchers to study pollution in the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...

."Sylvia Badger
U-Md.'s Hall of Fame opens its doors
''The Baltimore Sun'', April 28, 1995. Skinner served on the Board of Regents at the University of Maryland from 1916 to 1941,
''The Baltimore Sun'', May 17, 1941. including as its chairman from 1935 onward.

Later life

In 1942, while associate chief of the Bureau of Agricultural Chemistry and Engineering, Skinner attended a meeting to discuss food dehydration as a means to reduce the logistical burden of transporting war supplies. ''

The Sheboygan Press ''The Sheboygan Press'' is a daily newspaper based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, United States. It is one of a number of newspapers in the state of Wisconsin owned by Gannett, including the ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'', ''Green Bay Press-Gazette'' a ...

'' noted that he was not called upon during the meeting, and remained quiet until its participants began to disperse. He then spoke up:

I have been a student of dehydration for many years, but I don't suppose that counts. Old fellows like me don't get much attention. The accent is on youth in these times—so much so that I think it wouldn't be out of place to design another flag for the
Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...
in addition to Old Glory. Yes, gentlemen, I recommend a background of
bright green Varieties of the color green may differ in hue, chroma (also called saturation or intensity) or lightness (or value, tone, or brightness), or in two or three of these qualities. Variations in value are also called tints and shades, a tint be ...
, with a pair of diapers rampant.

Skinner was promoted to chief of the Bureau in November 1942. He died on March 10, 1953.Obituary
''The Baltimore Sun'', March 11, 1953. Skinner was posthumously inducted into the inaugural class of the University of Maryland Alumni Hall of Fame in 1995. The Skinner Building, constructed on the school's campus in 1915, is named in his honor.
University of Maryland Libraries, retrieved July 21, 2010.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skinner, Will 1874 births 1953 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football quarterbacks Player-coaches American physical chemists American conservationists Arizona Wildcats football coaches Maryland Terrapins football players Maryland Terrapins football coaches University of Arizona alumni University of Arizona faculty University of Maryland, College Park faculty Columbian College of Arts and Sciences alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni United States Department of Agriculture officials Sportspeople from Baltimore People from Cambridge, Maryland People from Kensington, Maryland Coaches of American football from Maryland Players of American football from Baltimore