Iowa State University - Bomb Yearbook (Ames, IA)

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BRIEF SKETCH OF DEAN STANTON ' S LIFE. Edgar William Stanton was born in Waymart, Pennsylvania, October 3, 1850. It was here that his early education was secured, first at the public school and then at the Waymart Normal School. He next studied in the Delaware Literary Institute at Franklin, New York, and here met Prof. G. W. Jones, who became the Professor of Mathematics, Civil Engineering and Architecture at the opening of the Iowa State College. In 1870 Dean Stanton also came to Ames and entered as a Sophomore, thus graduating with the first class, the ' 72 ' s, and as a matter of fact receiving the first diploma given to an I. S. C. graduate. The day of his graduation he was elected Instructor of Mathe- matics and took charge of all instruction in this line. In 1877 he was elected Professor of Mathematics and Political Economy, a position which he has held from that day to this. In 1874 he was elected Secretary of the Board of Trustees and has acted in that capacity during all these years, except that he was released of some of his duties on being elected Acting-President at the death of Dr. Beardshear. In 1877 he was married to Miss Margaret McDonald, who had been a member of the faculty since the founding of the college. At her death in 1895 the new girls ' dormitory, then almost com- pleted, was named Margaret Hall in honor of her, the first precep- tress. The chimes in our beautiful Campanile were the gift of Dean Stanton to the college in memory of Mrs. Stanton. In 1899 he was married to Miss Julia Wentch, then his private secretary and an instructor in mathematics. The Maples, as Dean Stanton ' s place is known, has ever been a delightful home. In 1903 he was made Dean of the Junior College. Ex-Governor Gue, a man long connected with the affairs of the state, says in his new history: For over thirty years Professor Stanton has been intimately associated with the financial and general business management of the college, with its large endow- — 5 —

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ment arising from the Government Land Grant, and it may be truly said that to his fidelity, unusual business capacity and intimate knowledge of the aims of the college, the institution is more largely indebted for its remarkable development and general prosperity than to any man now living. Business concerns have noted his ability and offered pecuniary inducements to persuade him to take presidencies. Societies of Mathematics and Political Economy have sought him but he has been far too busy to care for these honors. It is the college that holds his first interest. Few members of this Junior Class have had the privilege of studying Mathematics under his eflficient leadership, but those who have been so privileged say that he is a thorough, patient and successful instructor. But all have been permitted to see and know this man, a man of sterling qualities, sympathetic nature, undying loyalty to the college for which he has given and is giving his life service. 6 —