William Leslie Hooper (August 2, 1855 – October 3, 1918) was the acting president of Tufts College (later

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

) from 1912 to 1914, between the terms of the fourth and fifth elected presidents. __TOC__

Early life and education

Hooper was born in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

, in 1855. He received a bachelor of arts degree from Tufts in 1877, and a master of arts degree from Tufts in 1878. He also received an honorary Ph.D. in 1898 and an LL.D. in 1915, both from Tufts. Hooper was instructor of Mathematics and Applied Physics at the Bromfield School and became its principal in 1880. While at Tufts, Hooper was initiated into

Theta Delta Chi Theta Delta Chi () is a social fraternity that was founded in 1847 at Union College, New York, United States. While nicknames differ from institution to institution, the most common nicknames for the fraternity are TDX, Thete, Theta Delt, and Thump ...

Career

Hooper became assistant professor of physics at Tufts in 1883, and then professor of electrical engineering in 1890. In 1902, Hooper published "Electrical Problems" upon which he based many lectures, as described by

Vannevar Bush Vannevar Bush ( ; March 11, 1890 – June 28, 1974) was an American engineer, inventor and science administrator, who during World War II headed the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), through which almost all warti ...

. Following the resignation of Frederick W. Hamilton, Hooper was made acting president in 1912, having been commended by the Trustees for his contributions to the engineering department and his successful fundraising abilities. He served in this role through the end of 1914 until Hermon Carey Bumpus took office, at which point he returned to the department of electrical engineering. Hooper built a residence at 124 Professors Row in 1892, known today as Hooper House, which currently houses the University Health Services. Additionally, the home of the department of electrical engineering was dedicated as the Hooper Laboratories for Electrical Engineering on June 5, 1940, and held that name until 1983, when it was rededicated as Halligan Hall. Hooper built by hand a cottage on an island in Brompton Lake, Quebec, about which he wrote several poems. Hooper's poem "A Legend of Outunwitti" helped scholars study indigenous oral tradition and Brompton Lake geographical place name origins.

References

Additional sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, William Leslie 1855 births 1918 deaths Tufts University alumni 20th-century Christian universalists 19th-century Christian universalists Members of the Universalist Church of America Presidents of Tufts University