Benjamin Rush Rhees | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 3rd President of the University of Rochester | |
| In office 1900–1935 | |
| Preceded by | David Jayne Hill |
| Succeeded by | Alan C. Valentine |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1860-02-08)February 8, 1860 Chicago, Illinois U.S. |
| Died | January 4, 1939(1939-01-04) (aged 78) Rochester, New York, U.S. |
| Resting place | Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester, New York |
| Spouse | Harriet Chapin Seelye Rhees |
| Children | 3, includingRush Rhees, Jr |
| Alma mater | Amherst College,Hartford Theological Seminary |
| Profession | Administrator |
Benjamin Rush Rhees (/riːz/ 8 February 1860 – 5 January 1939) was the third president of theUniversity of Rochester, serving from 1900 to 1935.
Rhees, great-grandson of radical Baptist ministerMorgan John Rhys,[1] earned his undergraduate degrees fromAmherst College where he was a member ofAlpha Delta Phi.[2]
He graduated from theHartford Theological Seminary and was ordained aBaptist minister.
He served in the position from 1900 to 1935. When he arrived at the university, it had been without a president for four years.
Under his tenure,George Eastman became a donor to the university, contributing in the largest capacity the university had seen. TheEastman School of Music was begun during Rhees's tenure, as was the university'smedical center and the College for Women (1902). Also during his tenure the Institute of Optics, the first such entity in the New World, was founded in 1929. Additionally, Rhees's administration was responsible for moving the campus from Prince Street to its current home on the River Campus (formerly Oak Hill golf course), with a groundbreaking in 1927.[3]
Rush Rhees Library, the main academic library of the University of Rochester, established in 1930 was named after him, as during his tenure, the school went from a small college to a research university.[4]
Rhees and his wife Harriet Chapin Seelye (daughter ofL. Clark Seelye) were the parents ofRush Rhees, aWittgenstein scholar and one of the philosopher's literary executors.[5][6]
Rhees, Rush (08 February 1860–05 January 1939), Baptist minister and university president, was born in Chicago, to John Evans Rhees, a merchant, and Annie Houghton McCutcheon. He was christened Benjamin Rush Rhees after the noted Dr. Benjamin Rush, whom his great grandfather had met in Philadelphia upon emigrating from Wales in 1794. Rhees dropped the "Benjamin" as a youth. His grandfather, Morgan John Rhees, Jr., was a Baptist minister and in 1852 received one of the first honorary degrees granted by the University of Rochester, where his grandson would later serve as president.
Rhees, Rush (1905–1989), philosopher, was born in Rochester, New York, USA, on 19 March 1905, the son of Rush Rhees (1860–1939), Baptist minister and president of Rochester University, and his wife, Harriet Chapin Seelye, daughter of L. Clark Seelye, the president of Smith College. His great-great-grandfather Morgan John Rhys, a Baptist minister and radical pamphleteer, had emigrated to America in 1794.(Subscription,Wikipedia Library access orUK public library membership required.)
Media related toBenjamin Rush Rhees at Wikimedia Commons| Academic offices | ||
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| Preceded by | President of the University of Rochester 1900 – 1935 | Succeeded by |
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