Ezra Brainerd (December 17, 1844 – December 8, 1924) was president of

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. The college currently enrolls 2,858 undergraduates from all ...

, Vermont, United States, from 1885 until 1908. Born in

St. Albans, Vermont St. Albans, Vermont may refer to: * St. Albans (town), Vermont, established 1763, a town in Franklin County, Vermont, U.S. *St. Albans (city), Vermont, established 1902, a city in Franklin County, Vermont, U.S. See also * St. Albans Bay, Vermont, ...

, Brainerd was a graduate of the college in 1864. Brainerd assumed the presidency at a time when the college was recovering from an extended period of hardship. Brainerd remained president for 23 years, during which time the student body doubled, Starr Library and Warner Hall were constructed, and the college changed from an almost exclusively local college into a more regionally oriented institution. Brainerd was an educator with diverse interests, teaching in almost every subject, from physics to mathematics, to English and

rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...

. He was especially interested in botany; his papers and letters are in several herbaria and libraries throughout New England and the East. Brainerd's diverse talents and interests also informed his educational philosophy. Brainerd focused his efforts on strengthening and broadening the education offered by Middlebury rather than enforcing discipline and religion. In 1995, when Middlebury initiated a system of residential commons, Brainerd Commons was named in his honor. A type of Hawthorn, Crataegus brainerdii, is named in his honor.

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External links

Past Middlebury Presidents
at www.middlebury.edu
Brainerd Commons
at www.middlebury.edu Middlebury College alumni Presidents of Middlebury College 1844 births 1924 deaths People from Franklin County, Vermont {{US-academic-administrator-stub