Andrew Fleming West (May 17, 1853 – December 27, 1943) was an American

classicist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Cla ...

, and first

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of the

Graduate School Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

Biography

West was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania on May 17, 1853. He studied at Princeton University from 1870 to 1874. In his final year at Princeton he founded the

Princeton Glee Club The Princeton University Glee Club is the oldest and most prestigious choir at Princeton University, composed of approximately 100 mixed voices. They give multiple performances throughout the year featuring music from Renaissance to Modern, and ...

. After graduating, he taught

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

at a high school in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

for six years. He then went to Europe to carry out academic study, before taking up a position as principal of the Morris Academy in Morristown, New Jersey. In 1883 West accepted a position as professor of Latin at Princeton University, where he served as Giger Professor of Latin for forty-five years until his retirement in 1928. In December 1900 West was appointed as the first dean of the newly founded

at Princeton University. As dean, he was instrumental in creating the

Princeton University Graduate College The Graduate College at Princeton University is a residential college which serves as the center of graduate student life at Princeton. Wyman House, adjacent to the Graduate College, serves as the official residence of the current Dean of the Gr ...

, a residential college for graduate students. After a number of setbacks, and a disagreement with

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

(President of Princeton University, 1902–1910) about the siting of the proposed graduate college, it finally became a reality with the death of Isaac C. Wyman in 1910, who bequeathed $800,000 for the purposes of founding a graduate college. The graduate college was dedicated on October 22, 1913. He remained dean until 1928. West was president of the American Philological Association in 1902. He received the honorary degree

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Docto ...

(D.Litt.) from the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

in October 1902, in connection with the tercentenary of the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the sec ...

. A cast bronze statue of West made by

R. Tait McKenzie Robert Tait McKenzie ( MacKenzie) (May 26, 1867 – April 28, 1938) was a Canadian physician, educator, sculptor, athlete, soldier and Scouter. Born in Ramsay Township, Lanark County, Ontario, Canada, he attended McGill University in Montrea ...

in 1928 is situated in the grounds of the Graduate College at Princeton University.

Works

* 1892. ''Alcuin and the Rise of the Christian schools''. New York: Charles Scribner's sons. * 1902. ''A Latin Grammar for Schools''. New York: D. Appleton and Co. * 1913. ''The Graduate College of Princeton''. Princeton University Press. * 1929. ''A Narrative of the Graduate College of Princeton University : from its proposal in 1896 until its dedication in 1913''. Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University.

References

External links

*
Biography of Andrew Fleming West
{{DEFAULTSORT:West, Andrew Fleming 1853 births 1943 deaths American classical scholars Classical scholars of Princeton University Scholars of Latin literature Princeton University alumni Princeton University faculty