William Bennett Bizzell (October 14, 1876 – May 13, 1944) was the president of three American higher education institutions. He was the fifth president of the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

, the president of Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

), and the president of the College of Industrial Arts (now

Texas Woman's University Texas Woman's University (TWU) is a public coeducational university in Denton, Texas, with two health science center-focused campuses in Dallas and Houston. While TWU has been fully co-educational since 1994, it is the largest state-supported u ...

Early life and career

Bizzell was born in Independence, Texas, to George McDuffie and Sarah Elizabeth (Wade) Bizzell.''Handbook of Texas Online'', s.v. "," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbi24 (accessed April 4, 2007). He received multiple degrees from

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

between 1898 and 1900 and from the

University of Illinois College of Law The University of Illinois College of Law (Illinois Law or UIUC Law) is the law school of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a public university in Champaign, Illinois. It was established in 1897 and offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S. ...

between 1911 and 1912. He received his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1921. From 1900 to 1910, he served as the superintendent of schools for

Navasota, Texas Navasota is a city in Grimes County, Texas, United States. The population was 7,643 at the 2020 census. In 2005, the Texas Legislature designated Navasota as the "Blues Capital of Texas" in honor of the late Mance Lipscomb, a Navasota native an ...

. From 1910 to 1914, he was president of the College of Industrial Arts in Denton, Texas and from 1914 to 1925, he was president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas in

College Station, Texas College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East-Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley, towards the eastern edge of the region known as the Texas Triangle. It is northwest of Houston and east-northeast of Austin. ...

University of Oklahoma

In 1926, he headed to

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, Oklahoma, Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma C ...

to become president of the

effective July 1 of that year. He made many changes during his 15 years as president. In his first five years, he organized the utilities department at the university (previously, workmen reported directed to the university president for even the most trivial matters); oversaw vast improvements to the university's library system (for which the main library in the heart of the campus bears his name); presided over the building of

Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, also known as Owen Field or The Palace on the Prairie, is the football stadium on the campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. It serves as the home of the Oklahoma Sooners football team. ...

and the

McCasland Field House The McCasland Field House is a multi-purpose indoor arena on the University of Oklahoma main campus in Norman, Oklahoma. Home of the basketball Sooners until 1975, the Field House currently hosts the men's wrestling, women's volleyball, and men's ...

along with

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

Bennie Owen Benjamin Gilbert Owen (July 24, 1875 – February 26, 1970) was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head football coach at Washburn College, now Washburn University, in 1900, at Bethany C ...

; oversaw the new

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...

building; approved the creation of the School of Religion; reorganized the School of Journalism; helped get funding for the creation of the University Medical Center in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

; established the University Press; increased the salary of the faculty; converted the School of Business from a two-year program to a four-year program and renamed it the College of Business Administration; and saw the building of the new Oklahoma Memorial Union. By 1934, the university was the tenth largest state institution in the nation and 24th largest institution of higher learning in the nation. The latter part of his presidency saw the construction of the new business administration building, the new biological sciences building, and the creation of the new University of Oklahoma Foundation. Bizzell was also a powerful orator. He was elected president of the National Association of State Universities; he received the Medal of Excellence from Columbia University; and he was selected from all college presidents as the one to write the article on

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

for the '' Encyclopedia Americana''.

Retirement and death

In the spring of 1940, he announced his resignation to be effective the next year. The Board of Regents invited him to remain on the staff as president

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

and head of the sociology department. Just three years after resigned as president of the university, Bizzell died in Norman on May 13, 1944.

Notes

External links

Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Bizzell, William
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bizzell, William 1876 births 1944 deaths Presidents of the University of Oklahoma Presidents of Texas A&M University People from Independence, Texas Baylor University alumni Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni University of Illinois College of Law alumni People from Denton, Texas