James Augustin Brown Scherer | |
|---|---|
 Rev. Dr. James A. B. Scherer in 1920 | |
| 3rd & last President ofThroop Polytechnic Institute | |
| In office October 1, 1908 – September 12, 1920 | |
| Preceded by | Walter Alison Edwards |
| 6th President ofNewberry College | |
| In office 1904–1908 | |
| Preceded by | George B. Cromer |
| Succeeded by | J. Henry Harms |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1870-05-22)May 22, 1870 |
| Died | February 15, 1944(1944-02-15) (aged 73) |
James A. B. Scherer (1870–1944) was a Lutheran minister who served as the lastpresident of theThroop Polytechnic Institute from 1908 to 1920 prior to its renaming to theCalifornia Institute of Technology in 1921.[1] He officially resigned in September 1920 after being on a health-related leave of absence since April 1920. He was later hired byFamous Players-Lasky as a screenwriter.[2][3]
Before being asked byGeorge Ellery Hale to serve as President of Throop, Scherer was a Lutheran minister, one of the founders of theJapan Evangelical Lutheran Church[4] and also president ofNewberry College, a Lutheran College inSouth Carolina that primarily trained young men for the ministry before it was secularized.[5] He is responsible for the foundations of Caltech and helped bringArthur Noyes andRobert Millikan to Caltech to complete the driving triumvirate.
After Caltech and his brief foray into the motion pictures industry, Scherer served as director of theSouthwest Museum of the American Indian from 1926 until 1931.[6]
Due to his fluency in the Japanese language, Scherer was employed duringWorld War II by theUnited States Office of War Information to broadcast bi-weekly information and possibly propaganda from the American government directly to Japanese soldiers and civilians overseas via shortwave radio.[7]
James Augustin Brown Scherer was born on May 22, 1870, to Reverend Simon Scherer and Harriet Isabella Brown Scherer inSalisbury, North Carolina.[8]
Scherer died in his Santa Monica home at age of 73 on February 15, 1944.[9][7]
Dr. James A. B. Scherer has resigned as president of the California Institute of Technology, It was announced yesterday by the board of directors of the school. Almost coincidentally, the announcement was made by the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation that the noted educator had signed a long-term contract to write photoplays for the concern. Dr. Scherer, acting under the advice of his physician, presented his resignation to the board of the technology school last March. The board of trustees, however, would not accept it at that time, but instead granted him a six months' leave of absence from April 1, in the hope that he would be able to resume his executive work in the fall. But, while the summer's rest has improved his health, Dr. Scherer came to the definite that it would be unwise for him to undertake again the arduous duties of a college presidency, and insisted on the acceptance of his resignation. At a meeting held at the home of Arthur H. Fleming, president of the board, Saturday night, the following resolution was adopted: "That Dr. Scherer's resignation, which has been in the hands of the president of the board since March 8, 1920, be now accepted with deep regret, in that Dr Scherer feels the necessity of resigning the presidency, and with an expression of great appreciation on the part of the board of the extraordinarily effective and successful work that Dr. James A. B. Scherer performed as president of the institute." Pending the appointment of a new president, the educational affairs of the institute will be administered by a faculty administrative committee, consisting of Prof. Franklin Thomas, chairman; Arthur A. Noyes, C. K. Judy, chairman of the faculty; Edward C. Barrett, secretary of the institute, and H. C. Van Buskirk, recorder. This same committee has been acting during Dr. Scherer's leave of absence.
Dr. James A. Scherer, former president of California a Institute of Technology here, has just returned from a trip to New York, where he sold the serial rights to two stories to the Doubleday Page Company. Dr. Scherer writing books and motion picture scenarios since his retirement college president, a position he gave up because of ill health. Dr. Scherer says one of the stories just sold, "Tall Timber" will be produced as a motion picture in the fall.
The funeral of Dr. James A. B. Scherer, 73, former president of California Institute of Technology, who died last Tuesday at his Santa Monica home, will be conducted tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. at the Todd Leslie Mortuary chapel, Santa Monica.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
  | This biography of an American academic administrator born in 1870–1879 is astub. You can help Wikipedia byadding missing information. |
