William Jewett Tucker (July 13, 1839 – September 29, 1926) was an American

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

minister who served as the 9th President of

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

, United States, from 1893 to 1909.

Dartmouth presidency

The ''New York City American'', in a September 30, 1926 obituary notice, wrote of William Jewett Tucker that he "was known in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

as 'the great president,' who brought Dartmouth from the position of a small New Hampshire college to that of a great national educational institution." One of the college's most beloved leaders, William Jewett Tucker was said to have "refounded Dartmouth," bringing its facilities, its curriculum and every aspect of its organization into the modern era. When he assumed the presidency in 1893, the college was in debt, there were only slightly over 300 students and there was no central physical facilities plant. When he stepped down in 1909 more than 20 new buildings had been erected, including a central steam plant; the student body had grown to over 1,100 students from across the country and around the world; the faculty had increased from 26 to 81; and the curriculum had been broadened. Tireless in his efforts to build the physical college, President Tucker was also equally devoted to articulating a moral and spiritual dimension for Dartmouth and for higher education nationwide. In numerous books and essays he called for a liberalization of American theology and commitment to public service. William Jewett Tucker graduated from Dartmouth in 1861 and studied for the ministry at

Andover Theological Seminary Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy. From 1908 to 1931, it was located at Harvard University in Cambridge. ...

. Ordained in 1867, he was a

pastor in

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644. Manchester is, along with Nashua, one of two seats of New Ha ...

, and, later, in New York City. He returned to Andover in 1879 as professor of sacred rhetoric and became an editor of the ''

Andover Review The ''Andover Review'' was a religious and theological periodical published from 1884 to 1893. It defined itself as standing for "thoroughly progressive orthodoxy," and was contributed to primarily from the ranks of the faculty of Andover Theologi ...

'' and a founder of The South End House, one of Boston's first settlement houses for the poor. At Andover, he was a central figure in the " Andover controversy" of 1886–92, when charges were filed against five professors calling for a liberalization of Congregational views. In 1890, the

Supreme Court of Massachusetts The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the distinction of being the oldest continuously functi ...

declared the proceedings "faulty"; in 1892, all five professors, Tucker included, were "acquitted." William Jewett Tucker retired from the Dartmouth presidency in 1909 and became president emeritus. Although retired, he remained an active figure on the public stage and lived in Hanover until his death in 1926. The William Jewett Tucker Center, commonly known as the Tucker Center, at

, is named after President Tucker.

External links

President of Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College

Wheelock succession

Tucker Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tucker, William Jewett 1839 births 1926 deaths Dartmouth College alumni Presidents of Dartmouth College Andover Newton Theological School alumni Andover Newton Theological School faculty