Frank Strong (August 5, 1859 – August 6, 1934)Obituary
in the Citizen Advertiser of

Auburn, New York Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States. Located at the north end of Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in Central New York, the city had a population of 26,866 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city of Cayuga County, the ...

of Friday, August 10, 1934 was the third president of the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

from 1899 to 1902 and sixth

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

from 1902 to 1920. Strong was born on August 5, 1859, in Venice Center, New York, a son of Mary Foote and John Butler Strong.William E. Connelley
Frank Strong
in ''A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans'', Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1918. He graduated from the

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

and between 1886–88 was a lawyer in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

. He left his law practice to become principal of a high school in

St Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri, United States. A small portion of the city extends north into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statisti ...

. Here he met Mary Evelyn Ransom; they married on June 24, 1890, and raised two children. In 1892 he became superintendent of the

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's List of cities in Nebraska, second-most populous city a ...

school district. Strong then returned to

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

to obtain a Ph.D in 1897 with his dissertation ''Cromwell's colonial and foreign policy, with special reference to the West Indies expedition of 1654-5''. There he received the

John Addison Porter John Addison Porter (March 15, 1822 – August 25, 1866) was an American professor of chemistry and physician. He is the namesake of the John Addison Porter Prize and was a founder of the Scroll and Key senior society of Yale University. Acad ...

Prize and was lecturer in United States history from 1897-1899. Strong wrote some works on the colonial history of the United States. Subsequently, president of the

from 1899 to 1902, he went to the University of Kansas next. Strong stormed onto

campus A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a corp ...

declaring that KU was woefully inadequate and that much more money was needed. In return, KU would graduate students capable of solving the state's economic and industrial problems, he said. He won increased funding and founded the schools of education, journalism and medicine and expanded extension programs. Four more buildings were completed before he resigned to teach law. "Previous Chancellors" Strong died at his home in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70 in Kansas, Interstate 70, between the Kansas River ...

on August 6, 1934, the day after his 75th birthday. He is interred at the

Fort Hill Cemetery Fort Hill Cemetery is a cemetery located in Auburn, New York, United States. It was incorporated on May 15, 1851, under its official name: "Trustees of the Fort Hill Cemetery Association of Auburn". It is known for its headstones of notable peopl ...

. Strong Hall on the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence is named after Chancellor Strong. The building is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

and contains offices, classrooms, and an auditorium.

Bibliography

*Frank Strong (1898)
Benjamin Franklin: A Character Sketch
', University Association Press *Frank Strong (1899)
A Forgotten Danger of the New England Colonies
', in the ''Annual Report of the American Historical Association'', U.S. Government Printing Office, pp 77–138. *Frank Strong (1899) ''The Causes of Cromwell's West Indian Expedition'', ''The American Historical Review'' Vol. 4, 1899, Pages 228–245. *Frank Strong and Joseph Shafer (1901) ''Government of the American People'', Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston and New York

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Frank 1859 births 1934 deaths 19th-century American educators 20th-century American educators 19th-century American historians 19th-century American male writers Chancellors of the University of Kansas Presidents of the University of Oregon Educators from New York (state) People from Cayuga County, New York Yale Law School alumni Yale University alumni American male non-fiction writers Historians from New York (state)