Eugene Allen Noble (March 5, 1865 – June 28, 1948) was an American academic and Methodist minister. He served as president of three institutions:

Centenary University Centenary University is a private university in Hackettstown, New Jersey, United States. Founded as a College-preparatory school, preparatory school by the Newark Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1867, Centenary evolved into a Jun ...

from 1902 to 1908,

Goucher College Goucher College ( ') is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1885 as a Nonsectarian, nonsecterian Women's colleges in the United States, ...

from 1908 to 1911, and

Dickinson College Dickinson College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1773 as Carlisle Grammar School, Dickinson was chartered on September 9, 1783, ...

from 1911 to 1914. He was also an administrator at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

Early life and education

Noble was born on March 5, 1865, in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, to William Richard Noble, a reverend, and Margaret J. Hays. He attended the Trinity School in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

, from which he graduated with a

Bachelor of Philosophy Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil, BPh, or PhB; or or ) is the title of an academic degree in philosophy that usually involves considerable research, either through a thesis or supervised research projects. Unlike many other bachelor's degrees, the ...

in 1891. After college, he studied at the

Garrett Biblical Institute Garrett may refer to: Places in the United States * Garrett, Illinois, a village * Garrett, Indiana, a city * Garrett, Floyd County, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Garrett, Meade County, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Garrett, ...

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

. Noble married his first wife, Lillian White Osborn, in 1892. Noble was a member of the

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

honor society and

Alpha Delta Phi Alpha Delta Phi (; commonly known as Alpha Delt, AD, ADPhi, A-Delt, or ADP) is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. Alpha Delta Phi was originally founded as a literary society by Samuel Eells in 1832 at Hamilton College in ...

Career

Methodist ministry

After finishing his education, Noble was ordained as a minister and joined the New York Eastern Conference of the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

. Noble served with two churches, one in Connecticut from 1891 to 1895 and another in Brooklyn from 1895 to 1897. He was also briefly an assistant superintendent at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital in New York.

Academia

In 1902, Noble was appointed as president of

Hackettstown, New Jersey Hackettstown is a Town (New Jersey), town in Warren County, New Jersey, Warren County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is perhaps best known as the home to the US headquarters of Mars Inc., Mars, Inc.. As of the 2020 United States census, t ...

, then known as the Centenary Collegiate Institute. Noble held this position for six years. In 1908, Noble was selected to head

, then the Women's College of Baltimore. Noble's predecessor, clergyman

John Goucher John Franklin Goucher ( '; June 7, 1845 – July 19, 1922) was an American Methodist pastor and missionary and the namesake of Goucher College, formerly the Women's College of Baltimore City. He was one of the college's co-founders along with fe ...

, was at sea returning from a trip to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

at the time of his inauguration. In Goucher's place, the college's board tasked Bishop William Fraser McDowell with installing Noble as president. Noble's tenure was relatively short; after just three years, he tendered his resignation, to the disappointment of the school's board, after accepting an offer to serve as president of

. At the time of Noble's departure, the college was left in debt and with no endowment, though its financial situation would improve under the administration of his successor. The most notable action taken under Noble's administration was the renaming of the college in honor of John Goucher, who was the school's most prominent co-founder and benefactor and had served as its president for 18 years. In 1911, Noble became Dickinson College's 16th president. Just three years later, he was asked by Dickinson's board of trustees to resign due to declining enrollment and inadequate fundraising. After leaving his post at Dickinson, Noble returned to

where he briefly served as executive secretary at the

Later years and death

Noble died at his home in New York on June 28, 1948, at the age of 83. He was survived by his second wife, Therese K. Lownes; his first wife's death had preceded his by 18 years.

Selected works

* *

Honorary degrees

(

Doctor of Sacred Theology The Doctor of Sacred Theology (, abbreviated STD), also sometimes known as Professor of Sacred Theology (, abbreviated STP), is the final theological degree in the pontifical university system of the Catholic Church, being the ecclesiastical equ ...

) *

(

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

) *

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York, Clinton, New York. It was established as the Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and received its c ...

(

Doctor of Law A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

) *

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

(Doctor of Law)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Noble, Eugene Allen Presidents of Goucher College Wesleyan University alumni 19th-century American Methodist ministers Presidents of Dickinson College Religious leaders from Brooklyn Academics from Brooklyn Trinity School (New York City) alumni Garrett–Evangelical Theological Seminary alumni 1865 births 1948 deaths Juilliard School faculty 20th-century American Methodist ministers