Frederic William Boatwright (January 28, 1868 – October 31, 1951) was president of Richmond College, now the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approxim ...

, from 1895 to 1946. Born in

White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia White Sulphur Springs is a city in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,231 at the 2020 census. The city emblem consists of five dandelion flowers and the citizens celebrate spring with an annual Dandelion Festiva ...

, Boatwright entered Richmond College in 1883 at the age of 15. He graduated with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree in 1888 and pursued graduate study at the

University of Halle Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...

, Sorbonne, and the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

. He married Ellen Moore Thomas on December 23, 1890. Elected president of Richmond College in 1895 at the age of twenty-seven, Boatwright led the university for 51 years, one of the longest terms of service of any college president. In 1914, under Dr. Boatwright's leadership, the College moved from the Fan district of downtown

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

to its current West End campus. Boatwright was buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. Boatwright Memorial Library, opened in 1955 on the school's campus, is named in his honor. Earl Hamner Jr., creator of the hit

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

-TV series ''

The Waltons ''The Waltons'' is an American historical drama television series about a family in rural mountainous Western Virginia of the Appalachian Mountains / Allegheny Mountains / Blue Ridge Mountains chain, during the economic hardships and mass unemp ...

'', attended Richmond College during Boatwright's tenure, and named the fictional Boatwright University where the character of John-Boy Walton attended college after him.

References

External links

History of the University of Richmond: People: Frederic William Boatwright
, - 1868 births University of Richmond alumni University of Paris alumni University of Halle alumni Leipzig University alumni Presidents of the University of Richmond 1951 deaths People from White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia American expatriates in France American expatriates in Germany Burials at Hollywood Cemetery (Richmond, Virginia) {{US-academic-administrator-1860s-stub