Charles Kendall Adams (January 24, 1835 – July 26, 1902) was an
American educator and historian. He served as the second president of
Cornell University from 1885 until 1892, and as president of the
University of Wisconsin from 1892 until 1901. He was the editor-in-chief of
Johnson's Universal Cyclopaedia (1892-1895), and of the successor
Universal Cyclopaedia (1900), sometimes referred to as
Appleton's Universal Cyclopaedia.
Biography
He was born in on January 24, 1835 in
Derby, Vermont, and he studied with
Andrew Dickson White, Cornell's first president, at the
University of Michigan, from where he graduated in 1861. Adams was then assistant professor of Latin and history at Michigan from 1863 to 1867, and full professor of history from 1867 to 1885. Having studied in
Germany,
France, and
Italy in 1867 and 1868, he followed the German method of instruction, and in 1869 and 1870 established an historical seminary which proved of great value in promoting the study of history and political science. In 1881 he was made non-resident professor of history at Cornell, and in 1885 succeeded White as president of Cornell. He was forced to resign at Cornell due to conflicts with the faculty over
honorary degrees and control of faculty appointments.
In 1890 he was president of the
American Historical Association. In 1892 he was elected...
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