Samuel Walker Shattuck (February 18, 1841 – February 13, 1913) was an American academic from

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. He graduated from

Norwich University Norwich University is a private university in Northfield, Vermont, United States. The university was founded in 1819 as the "American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy". It is the oldest of six senior military college, senior militar ...

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

and taught at the school until 1867, with a break to serve in the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. He then accepted a position at

Illinois Industrial University The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

(today the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign), where he taught for the next forty-four years (1868–1912).

Biography

Samuel Walker Shattuck was born in

Groton, Massachusetts Groton is a town in northwestern Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, within the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The population was 11,315 at the 2020 census. An affluent bedroom community roughly 45 miles from Boston, Groton has a ...

, on February 18, 1841. He attended preparatory school at

Lawrence Academy at Groton Lawrence Academy at Groton is a private, nonsectarian, co-educational college-preparatory boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts. Founded in 1792 as Groton Academy and chartered in 1793 by Governor John Hancock, Lawrence is the tenth ...

, then studied at

, where he joined the Alpha Chapter of

Theta Chi Theta Chi () is an international men's college fraternity. It was founded on April 10, 1856, at Norwich University then-located in Norwich, Vermont. It has initiated more than 215,000 members and has over 8,900 collegiate members across North A ...

fraternity. Following his graduation in 1860, he was appointed an instructor of mathematics at Norwich. Shattuck resigned his position upon the outbreak of the

, becoming an

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

of the 8th Vermont Infantry. He was wounded during the

Battle of Cedar Creek The Battle of Cedar Creek, or Battle of Belle Grove, was fought on October 19, 1864, during the American Civil War. The fighting took place in the Shenandoah Valley of Northern Virginia, near Cedar Creek, Middletown, and the Valley Pike. D ...

on October 19, 1864, and was named a captain the next month. He was mustered out with his unit in June 1865. Shattuck then returned to Norwich University as an adjunct professor of mathematics and military tactics. From 1866 to 1867, he was acting president of the school. Shattuck resigned from his position in the summer of 1868 to join the new

Urbana, Illinois Urbana ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 census, Urbana had a population of 38,336. It is a principal city of the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, which had 236,000 residents i ...

. He was named a professor of civil engineering two years later and was appointed a professor of mathematics in 1871. He was acting regent of the school for six months in 1873, then assumed the role of business agent and manager until 1905. He was then named comptroller of the university, serving until his retirement on September 1, 1912. The university presented him with an honorary

Doctor of Laws 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 ...

. The

Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (CFAT) is a U.S.-based education policy and research center. It was founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1905 and chartered in 1906 by an act of the United States Congress. Among its most not ...

presented him with a retiring allowance for his service. Shattuck married Adelaide L. White on August 14, 1866; she died in August 1914. They had four children: Charles W., Anna, Edith A., and Walter F. Anna married fellow Illinois professor Arthur Wilson Palmer in 1893. Samuel Walker Shattuck died on February 13, 1913, at the home of his daughter in

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in ...

. He had been in ill health for two years. A brief account of Shattuck's university service was read to students on the day of his funeral. He was buried in Mount Home Cemetery and Mausoleum in Urbana.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shattuck, Samuel Walker 1841 births 1913 deaths 19th-century American mathematicians 20th-century American mathematicians Norwich University alumni Norwich University faculty People from Groton, Massachusetts People of Vermont in the American Civil War University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty