Cyrus Nutt

Terms of office: 1837-1839 (Acting), 1857-1858 (Acting)

Cyrus Nutt graduated from Allegheny College in Pennsylvania. He taught Greek and Latin at Indiana Asbury. In 1843 Nutt left the university to enter the pastoral ministry but returned as professor of Greek language and literature from 1846 to 1849. In 1849 he again resigned to become president of Fort Wayne Female College and then of Whitewater College. In 1857 he came back to Indiana Asbury as professor of mathematics and vice president, serving as Acting president the following year.

Matthew Simpson

Term of office: 1839-1848

Matthew Simpson received an honorary A.M. degree from Allegheny College in Pennsylvania in 1837 and taught mathematics and natural science there for two years. He accepted the Asbury presidency in early 1839. Simpson taught everything except Greek and Latin while holding the chair of mathematics, and later became professor of mental and moral philosophy. In 1848 President Simpson left Asbury, and four years later he was elected a bishop of the Methodist Church.

William C. Larrabee

Term of office: 1848-1849 (Acting)

William C. Larrabee attended Bowdoin College with Franklin Pierce, who later became president of the United States. Larrabee taught at Connecticut Wesleyan University and Oneida College Seminary (New York). He took over the chair of mathematics in 1841 and also taught the natural sciences. After 10 years on the faculty Larrabee left Asbury to become Indiana's first superintendent of public instruction.
 

Lucien W. Berry

Term of office: 1849-1854

Lucien Berry grew up in Ohio and attended Miami University. He held influential pastorates in Knightstown and Indianapolis. He had been on the Asbury board of trustees since 1842, and became president in 1849. Though his presidency began well, he later encountered town-gown conflicts as well as political and religious rivalry, and resigned in 1854.

 

Daniel Curry

Term of office: 1854-1857

A graduate of Wesleyan University in Connecticut, Daniel Curry was a pastor of a large Methodist church in New York City with academic and pastoral experience in New York and Georgia. His attempts to strengthen college discipline led to a large student rebellion, which led to his resignation three years after assuming presidency.

 

Thomas Bowman

Terms of office: 1858-1872, 1884-1899 (Chancellor)

Thomas Bowman graduated from Methodist Dickinson College in 1837. He became president of Indiana Asbury in 1858 and served as chaplain of the United States Senate from May 1864 to March 1865. Bowman presided over such important university events as the admission of women students and the initial planning and the laying of the cornerstone of East College. Bowman served on the University's board of trustees, including a term as president from 1887 to 1895.

Reuben Andrus

Term of office: 1872-1875

Reuben Andrus was a graduate of McKendree College and pastor of the Meridian Street Methodist Church in Indianapolis. After three years marked by financial problems resulting from the Panic of 1873 and some lack of harmony with both faculty and student body, Andrus returned to the pastoral ministry.

Alexander Martin

Term of office: 1875-1889

Alexander Martin graduated at the head of his class from Allegheny College in 1847. He taught Greek language and literature there. Ordained in the Methodist Episcopal Church, he preached and did hospital work during the Civil War, becoming the first president of West Virginia University in 1865. Martin oversaw the transition from Indiana Asbury to DePauw University. After his resignation in 1889, he continued as professor of mental and moral philosophy.

John P. D. John

Term of office: 1889-1895

John Price Durbin John served as president of Brookville College and then Moore's Hill College. He was invited to join Indiana Asbury in 1882 as professor of Hebrew and adjunct professor of Latin, but instead accepted the chair of applied mathematics and astronomy. In addition he was briefly director of the department of music and conductor of the college chorus. John played a major role in creating an elective system at DePauw, replacing the rigid classical curriculum.

Hillary Asbury Gobin

Terms of office: 1895-1896 (Acting), 1896-1903

Hillary A. Gobin served in the Union Army during the Civil War and graduated from Indiana Asbury in 1870. After 10 years in the Methodist ministry he returned to his alma mater as professor of Greek and then became president of Baker University in Kansas in 1886. In 1896 he became president of DePauw. In 1903 Gobin resigned the presidency but remained on the faculty as professor of theology and English Bible until his retirement in 1922.

Edwin Holt Hughes

Term of office: 1903-1909

Edwin H. Hughes became President in 1903 after studying at Ohio Wesleyan and Boston University, and serving a pastorate in Malden, Massachusetts. Hughes worked on promoting student discipline and reducing the University's financial deficits. By the time Hughes left office, the University's endowment had more than doubled, from $231,000 to $530,000. He left DePauw in 1909 after his election as bishop.
 

Francis John McConnell

Term of office: 1909-1912

Francis J. McConnell graduated from Ohio Wesleyan and the Boston University School of Theology. He served as pastor of a large Methodist church in Brooklyn, New York. McConnell led the University's first major fund drive. The campaign for the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Fund produced a total subscription of $550,546. McConnell was elected bishop in 1912.

 

George Richmond Grose

Term of office: 1912-1924

George R. Grose graduated from Ohio Wesleyan and the Boston University School of Theology. He served as minister of a Methodist church in Baltimore. His term as president of DePauw brought stability and financial strength to the university during a period of expansive growth. In 1924 Grose was elected bishop and left Greencastle to take up his post in China.

 

Henry Boyer Longden

Term of office: 1924-1925 (Acting)

Henry B. Longden graduated from Indiana Asbury in 1881. He joined the faculty of the preparatory department and soon the college, teaching Greek, Science, Latin, and German as well as serving as sometime Registrar, Librarian, Acting President, and Director of the Edward Rector Foundation. DePauw awarded Longden the A.M. degree in 1884 and an LL.D. in 1925.

 

Lemuel Herbert Murlin

Term of office: 1925-1928

Lemuel H. Murlin earned both a B.A. and S.T.B. from DePauw and served as president of Baker and Boston Universities. At DePauw, he worked to strengthen the academic program by establishing faculty committees dealing with educational policy and the curriculum, as well as by restricting admission to the university to those graduating in the upper two-thirds of their high school class. After his resignation in 1928, Murlin served as pastor of the American Church in Berlin.

G. Bromley Oxnam

Term of office: 1928-1936

G. Bromley Oxnam graduated from the University of South Carolina and the Boston University School of Theology. He served as pastor of a large Los Angeles church before becoming professor of social ethics at Boston University. Oxnam achieved a high level of national and international recognition and brought DePauw an unprecedented amount of public attention during his presidential term. Oxnam was elected bishop in 1936.

Clyde Everett Wildman

Terms of office: 1936-1951, 1951-1955 (Emeritus)

Clyde E. Wildman graduated from DePauw and earned an S.T.B. and Ph.D. from Boston University. He served as a professor of Old Testament at the Boston University School of Theology. Wildman's early years as president of DePauw brought economic and academic development. During World War II, Wildman made DePauw's facilities available for use in military training programs. After the war he oversaw the expansion of the university due to rising enrollments.

Russell Jay Humbert

Term of office: 1951-1962

Russell J. Humbert graduated from the College of Wooster and the Boston University Theological School. He became a popular administrator and an effective fund raiser, initiating the Greater DePauw Program - a 10-to-15 year plan to raise $10 million for new buildings and endowment. Humbert presided over growing student enrollments, increases in graduation requirements, as well as rising tuition and faculty compensation.
 

Glenn W. Thompson

Term of office: 1962-1963 (Acting)

Glenn W. Thompson, president of the board of trustees, was named chief executive of the university after the sudden death of president Humbert in 1962.




 

William Edward Kerstetter

Terms of office: 1962-1975, 1975-1978 (Chancellor)

William E. Kerstetter graduated from Dickinson College and received the S.T.B. and Ph.D. from Boston University. He taught philosophy at Hamline College and served as president of Simpson College. Kerstetter continued the Greater DePauw Program and worked to modernize and expand the university's physical facilities. Kerstetter also oversaw major academic reforms: introduction of the credit system, the 4-1-4 academic calendar, and Winter Term sessions.

Thomas Wyatt Binford

Term of office: 1975-1976 (Acting)

Thomas W. Binford, a Princeton graduate and Indianapolis businessman, was named acting president after Kerstetter resigned to become chancellor. Binford resigned in 1976 to return to his business enterprises.



 

Robert Holton Farber

Term of office: 1976-1977 (Acting)

Dean Farber assumed academic leadership on an interim basis after Binford's resignation.





 

Richard Franklin Rosser

Term of office: 1977-1986

Richard F. Rosser graduated from Ohio Wesleyan and received a master's degree in public administration and a Ph.D. from Syracuse University. He served as professor and head of the department of political science at the Air Force Academy and served as dean of faculty and professor of political science at Albion College. Rosser was the first non-ordained president of DePauw. His presidency brought a reorganization of the university's administrative departments and a restructuring of the curriculum to re-affirm the liberal arts ideal.

Robert G. Bottoms

Term of office: 1986-2008

Robert G. Bottoms, the longest-serving president in the history of DePauw, continues to serve the University as president emeritus and director of the Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics. During his 22 years as president, Bottoms led the University in developing a more diverse student body, faculty and staff, significantly strengthening science education and advancing moral reflection. Under his leadership, DePauw partnered with The Posse Foundation – a youth leadership development and college access organization that sends teams (Posses) of students from diverse backgrounds to selective colleges and universities – and in 2004 DePauw became the first college in the nation to host two Posse groups (from New York City and Chicago).  He spearheaded efforts to establish the 520-acre DePauw University Nature Park, which provides unique science research and study opportunities for students and faculty members, and is the site of the Prindle Institute for Ethics. Bottoms also led two highly successful fundraising efforts, the Sesquicentennial Campaign completed in 1987 and Campaign for DePauw: Leadership for a New Century, which culminated in 2000 with gifts and commitments in excess of $374 million. A native of Birmingham, Ala., Bottoms received a bachelor’s degree at Birmingham-Southern College, Bachelor of Divinity at Emory University and doctorate at Vanderbilt University. He began his career in higher education when he was appointed chaplain and assistant to the president at Birmingham-Southern. He later moved to the Vanderbilt Divinity School as assistant dean and assistant professor of church and ministry. He joined DePauw in 1978 as vice president for University relations and later became executive vice president of the University prior to being named president.

Brian W. Casey

Term of office: 2008-

Biography.