August 21, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



251 



really great university presidents this coun- 

 try has had. He was a member of the 

 famous class of '53 of Tale, where he was 

 elected a member of the honorary societies 

 of Phi Beta Kappa and Skull and Bones, 

 next a student at French and German uni- 

 versities and attache at the St. Petersburg 

 legation, then returned to this country and 

 served for six years as professor of history 

 and English literature in the University 

 of Michigan. For four years he was a 

 member of the New York State Senate, 

 where in association with another senator — ■ 

 Ezra Cornell — he drafted the law which 

 was passed creating Cornell University. 

 Nominated by Mr. Cornell for president of 

 the new institution and unanimously elected 

 against his wishes by the other members of 

 the board of trustees, Mr. "White came to 

 the presidency of Cornell University in 

 1867 at the age of thirty-five, familiar with 

 the best in education both in this country 

 and in Europe. This position he held with 

 honor until 1885, and it is to be noted that 

 the following year the two movements look- 

 ing toward an honorary scientific society 

 took definite form. 



Three things stand out conspicuously in 

 President White's administration which in 

 my judgment are largely responsible for 

 the spirit at Cornell which led to the organ- 

 ization of Sigma Xi. 



In the first place, although himself a 

 graduate of a leading classical college, he 

 organized a university in the East where 

 the scientific departments, both pure and 

 applied, had the same dignity and in all 

 respects equal rank with the departments 

 of the humanities. 



Secondly, he called to this faculty in 

 nearly every case men of ability who either 

 then were or became distinguished in their 

 several fields of learning. As the speaker 

 looks back upon his student days at Cor- 

 nell he realizes that, with one or two exeep- 



tions, all his teachers were men who have 

 attained positions of honorable distinction. 

 They were men that measured up to the 

 standard set by President Jordan when he 

 wrote that 



it is true that no second-hand man ever was a great 

 teacher. I very much doubt if any really great in- 

 vestigator was ever a poor teacher. How could he 

 be? The very presence of Asa Gray was an, in- 

 spiration to students in botany for years after he 

 had left the class room. Such a man leaves the 

 stamp of his greatness on every student who comes 

 within the range of his influence.^ 



Sylvester, the great mathematician of 

 Johns Hopkins University, in his Commem- 

 oration Day address is reported to have 

 made the following statements : 



I hesitate not to say that, in my opinion, the two 

 functions of teaching and working in science 

 should never be divorced. 



1 believe that none are so well fitted to impart 

 knowledge as those who are engaged in reviewing 

 its methods and extending its boundaries.s 



Thirdly, President White took a per- 

 sonal interest in the development of the 

 various departments and particularly in 

 the research work of the faculty. I shall 

 always remember his coming into the geo- 

 logical laboratory one afternoon with 

 Priesident Gilman, of Johns Hopkins Uni- 

 versity, to look at a collection of Trenton 

 Trilobites which the university had recently 

 purchased. Those two distinguished uni- 

 versity presidents spent at least half an 

 hour with Professor Henry S. Williams in 

 looking at and discussing those fossils from 

 the old Paleozoic rocks of New York. A 

 scholar and distinguished investigator him- 

 self in his chosen field, he kept up his re- 

 search work during all those early strenu- 

 ous years of the university's life, and no 

 one who was engaged in research work 

 along any line received more cordial en- 



2 Popular Science Monthly, Vol. LXIV., 1904, 

 p. 313. 



s Science, N. S., Vol. I., February 22, 1895, p. 

 206. 



