Benjamin Ide Wheeler
Benjamin Ide Wheeler (born July 15, 1854 in Randolph , Massachusetts , † May 3, 1927 in Vienna ) was an American classical philologist . From 1899 to 1919 he was President of the University of California, Berkeley .
Life
Benjamin Ide Wheeler studied at Brown University , where he received his bachelor's degree in 1875 . After a year as a teacher at the high school in Providence, Rhode Island , he took his master's degree in 1878 . He then deepened his studies at the University of Heidelberg , where he received his doctorate in 1885. phil. received his doctorate . His specialty was Indo-European linguistics .
After his return to the United States, Wheeler worked as a German teacher at Harvard University (1885-1886) and then went to Cornell University , where he was a professor until 1887. In 1887 he was appointed Professor of Comparative Philology , and in 1888 as Chair of the Greek Department .
During his time at Cornell University, Wheeler published several writings on linguistics, which he brought into the study of classical studies and literature. His teaching success brought him 1895/1896 the appointment as Annual Professor of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens .
In 1899, Wheeler was elected President of the University of California . He had previously turned down other positions of this kind (at Colgate College , the University of Wisconsin and the University of Rochester ). In California, Wheeler gave up teaching altogether and focused on running the university, which had 2,300 students when he took office.
Wheeler developed the University of California into one of the leading universities in the United States. During his 20-year tenure, he multiplied the number of students (1919: 20,000), founded the Sanskrit Department and attracted private investors. The sponsorship of Jane K. Sather, the widow of the banker Peder Sather , became very important , from whose assets several buildings on the campus in Berkeley were financed ( Sather Tower , Sather Gate ) and in 1912 the Sather professorship was established.
Wheeler helped found the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the last phase of his tenure. It was established as the Southern Campus in 1919 and was the University of California's second location after Berkeley.
Wheeler's reputation as a researcher and university president earned him international recognition. From 1899 he was a corresponding member of the Imperial German Archaeological Institute and in 1908/1909 was invited to the Berlin University as Roosevelt Professor , where, among other things, he gave a lecture on “Education and Democracy in America”.
Fonts (selection)
- The Greek nominal accent . Strasbourg 1885
- Analogy and the Scope of Its Application in Language . Ithaca (NY) 1887
- Introduction to the Study of the History of Language . London 1891
- The organization of teaching in the United States of North America . Munich 1897
- Dionysus and Immortality . Boston 1899
- Alexander the Great: The Merging of East and West in Universal History . New York 1900
- Education and Democracy in America . Strasbourg 1910
literature
- Ward W. Briggs : Wheeler, Benjamin Ide . In: Derselbe (ed.): Biographical Dictionary of North American Classicists. Greenwood Press, Westport CT et al. 1994, ISBN 0-313-24560-6 , pp. 692-693.
Web links
- Entry on Benjamin Ide Wheeler in the Database of Classical Scholars (English)
- Literature by Benjamin Ide Wheeler in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wheeler, Benjamin Ide |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American classical philologist, President of the University of California, Berkeley (1899-1919) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 15, 1854 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Randolph (Massachusetts) |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 3, 1927 |
| Place of death | Vienna |