John McLaren McBryde (January 1, 1841 – March 20, 1923) was the fifth president of

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

, serving from July 1, 1891 to September 1, 1907. McBryde was born in Abbeville, South Carolina. He entered South Carolina College in 1858 at age 17 before going on to the

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

. In 1861, he returned to Abbeville where he joined the Confederate Army. McBryde was present at the opening bombardment of

Fort Sumter, South Carolina Fort Sumter is a sea fort built on an artificial island protecting Charleston, South Carolina from naval invasion. Its origin dates to the War of 1812 when the British invaded Washington by sea. It was still incomplete in 1861 when the Battle ...

and fought in a Virginia cavalry unit. He later served as division chief of the Confederate War Tax Office in Richmond Virginia. After the war until 1867, McBryde farmed in Buckingham County, Virginia until he moved to large farm near Charlottesville, Virginia. McBryde then went to teach at South Carolina College where he served as faculty chair and then as president from 1883–1891. McBryde also served as assistant Secretary of Agriculture under President

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

. During McBryde's 16-year tenure as President of Virginia Agriculture and Mechanical College, the college expanded greatly. McByrde expanded the curriculum to include seven bachelor's degrees in Agriculture, Horticulture, Applied Chemistry, General Science, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Electrical Engineering and founded a graduate department in 1891. The new curriculum no longer reflected the name of the college and in 1896 the Virginia General Assembly changed the college's name to Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute, shortened in popular usage to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and then to VPI. The new name also brought new colors, which still stand as Chicago maroon and burnt orange, a school motto, ''Ut Prosim'' (That I May Serve), and a new college yell which prompted the nickname Hokies. During his tenure, V.P.I.'s first native-limestone-clad, neo-Gothic-style building, known as "The Chapel", was constructed on the site where Newman Library stands today. McByrde's legacy caused him to be known as the "Father of the Modern VPI." In the late 1800s McBryde persuaded the Board of Visitors to build the 15,147-square-foot Southern

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archit ...

mansion now known as "The Grove" to house the V.P.I. president, and became the first president to live in the house upon its completion in 1902. In 1907 upon retirement, McByrde was named first "President Emeritus" of

and also received

's first honorary degree (Doctor of Science). He died at age 82 on March 20, 1923, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Honors

McBryde Hall, a large classroom building on the Virginia Tech Campus is named for McBryde. The

Modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

structure, replaced an earlier building known as McBryde Hall, built in 1917 in the Collegiate Gothic style to replace the Preston and Olin Building, then known as the VPI shop building, that had burned to the ground in 1914. Old McByrde hall was razed in the late 1960s and the current building was completed in 1972.

References

External links

Records of the Office of the President, John McLaren McBryde, RG 2/5
at the

Special Collections and University Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:McBryde, John McLaren Presidents of the University of South Carolina Presidents of Virginia Tech People from Abbeville, South Carolina 1841 births 1923 deaths People from Buckingham County, Virginia