Samuel Webber (1759 – July 17, 1810) was an American Congregational church, Congregational clergyman, mathematician, academic, and president of Harvard University from 1806 until his death in 1810.

Biography

Samuel Webber was born in Byfield, Massachusetts in 1759. He was educated at Dummer Academy (now known as The Governor's Academy) and Harvard College (Bachelor of Arts, B.A., 1784; Master's degree, M.A., 1787) where he distinguished himself in mathematics. He was a member of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals, Hasty Pudding. Webber was ordained as Congregational church, Congregational minister in 1787 and two years later became Hollis Chair of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, Hollis Professor of Mathematick and Natural Philosophy at Harvard. He served in the commission that drew the boundaries, later recognized by the Treaty of Paris (1783), Treaty of Paris, between the new United States of America and the surrounding United Kingdom, British provinces. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1789 and also served as vice-president of the Academy. He authored ''System of Mathematics'', which for many years served as the only textbook on the subject in New England. Webber was appointed President of Harvard University, president of Harvard in 1806. That same year he received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from that institution. He led Harvard until his death in Cambridge, Massachusetts on July 17, 1810.

Family

Webber's son, Samuel Jr., married Anna Winslow Green, a granddaughter of David Mathews, Loyalist Mayor of New York City under the Great Britain, British during the American Revolution. Webber's son, also named Samuel (September 15, 1797 Cambridge, Massachusetts – December 5, 1880 Charlestown, New Hampshire), was a distinguished physician, chemist and author.

Works

* “Introduction” to Jedidiah Morse, ''American Universal Geography'', 1796 (revision) * ''System of Mathematics'', (2 vols.), 1801 * ''Eulogy on President Willard'', 1804

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webber, Samuel 18th-century American mathematicians 19th-century American mathematicians Harvard College alumni Presidents of Harvard University American Congregationalists Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1759 births 1810 deaths Hollis Chair of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy Hasty Pudding alumni The Governor's Academy alumni