Sanford Soverhill Atwood (1912 – December 2, 2002) was an American scientist with a specialty in cell biology &

plant breeding Plant breeding is the science of changing the traits of plants in order to produce desired characteristics. It is used to improve the quality of plant products for use by humans and animals. The goals of plant breeding are to produce crop varie ...

and academic administrator. Born in

Janesville, Wisconsin Janesville is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 65,615, making it the List of cities in Wisconsin, tenth-most populous city in Wis ...

, Atwood earned his bachelors, masters and

Phd A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

. He worked as a Professor of Plant Breeding at Cornell University, and then served as Cornell's

Provost Provost may refer to: Officials Ecclesiastic * Provost (religion), a high-ranking church official * Prince-provost, a high-ranking church official Government * Provost (civil), an officer of local government, including the equivalent ...

. He left Cornell to become president of

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

, where he served from 1963 to 1977. Under his administration, Emory's faculty size doubled, the student body grew by over 60%, invited Emory's first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

commencement speaker A graduation is the awarding of a diploma by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it, which can also be called commencement, congregation, convocation or invocation. The date of the graduation ...

(

Benjamin Mays Benjamin Elijah Mays (August 1, 1894 – March 28, 1984) was an American Baptist minister and American rights leader who is credited with laying the intellectual foundations of the American civil rights movement. Mays taught and mentored many i ...

) and first woman commencement speaker (

Rosemary Park Rosemary Park (March 11, 1907 – April 17, 2004) was an American scholar, academic leader, advocate for women's education and the first American woman to become president of two colleges and vice chancellor of a major university.Sullivan, Patrici ...

) and famously stood by Professor Thomas J. J. Altizer after his controversial writings.Sanford Soverhill Atwood, President 1963-1977
Emory.edu; retrieved Nov 4 2016

References

External links

Sanford S. Atwood
at the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library 1912 births 2002 deaths People from Janesville, Wisconsin Cornell University faculty Presidents of Emory University University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences alumni 20th-century American academics 20th-century American agronomists {{US-academic-scientist-stub