University of Florida - Tower / Seminole Yearbook (Gainesville, FL)

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“AN INSTITUTION IS THE lengthened tkadotc of one man, and the meant of n thing tctU done it to hart done it —Emerson With a Kait distinctly his own, a tall, dignified man strolled into the President’s office at the University of Florida, and his deep, penetrating blue eyes h'ianced at the 1928 calendar on the wall. He hung up his hat to stay awhile. On September 1, with the calendar turned to 1947, the same six-footer took his hat, said farewell, and left the President’s office. Thus a pioneer in several fields of education retired. The pages of the calendar have been turned over and over for nearly a score of years—years which summarize the progress story of John James Tigert who forged to the top of the educational world. On that day in the summer of 1928 when John Tigert came to Gainesville from the office of United States Commissioner of Education, the University of Florida was a young, struggling college among state-supported schools. In September, as he passed across the pine needles and looked at the brick and the stone and the walks and the trees, which symbolize the material measure of his service, his feeling of achievement may well have gone beyond those ivy-covered buildings that grace the campus. He has been more than a builder of a university campus. His enduring influence is imbued in the University graduates of the past two decades, and he carries with him hundreds of appreciative letters from personalities he has molded. We are here privileged to tell something about John J. and what he has done. Born February 11, 1882, on the campus of Vanderbilt University, the son of Bishop John J. Tigert, he received his preparatory training in the schools of Kansas City, Missouri, and Nashville, Tennessee, and at Webb School, Bellbuckle, Tennessee. He entered Vanderbilt in 1900, when he took the entrance prize of $50 for making the highest grade in an examination in Latin and Greek—the first newspaper recognition he had received since his birth announcement. The record he made at Vanderbilt is, perhaps, unequalled at that institution. He maintained a scholastic average above 90. became a member of Phi Beta Kappa, a member of the Honor Committee, President of his class, and was elected as the first Rhodes scholar of Tennessee. Besides his scholastic attainments, he was a member of the football, basketball, baseball and track teams. He was captain of the basketball and football teams, and was selected All-Southern fullback in 1901. He also won the Kentucky State tennis championship. At Oxford, he was prominent as an athlete, representing his college in rowing, tennis, and cricket, in addition to being a member of the All-Rhodes baseball team. From 1907 to 1909, Dr. Tigert held the chair of Philosophy and Psychology at Central College, Fayette, Missouri. He became President of Kentucky Wesleyan College in 1909, and in 1913 he resigned to assume the head professorship of philosophy and psychology at the University of Kentucky. Few men could be persuaded to combine the work connected with these honors and. at the same time, to coach and direct athletics, but Dr. Tigert coached both girls’ and boys basketball and football teams to championship years. During W’orld War I, Dr. Tigert served with the American Expeditionary Forces for one year in Scotland. England. France, and Germany. He lectured at the University of Beaune, France, and in the overseas school centers of the American Educational Corps, where he spoke to more than 300,000 soldiers. In 1921, he was called to Washington to fill the highest educational office in the Federal Government, as United States Commissioner of Education. During his seven years as Commissioner, he attained national distinction through his educational standards, ideas, and creations. He was one of the first to appreciate the true place of movies and the radio in education. It was one of his football teammates who said of him: Tigert, the man who says little but does much, showed that his prowess in the classroom was equalled by that on the gridiron—he really seemed at a loss as to what to do until he could get about three or four men hanging to him. then he would truly move off. Then came that day in the summer of 1928. The Florida boom had poured its population increase into the peninsula. The University was evolving from a small, provincial school into the beginnings of a real university. But the people of the state did not foresee what was ahead for the University, nor did the students nor the alumni. The drawling six-footer did. He wanted to lay the Page 8

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1928-1947

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foundation for an institution of the highest academic standards, as well as to develop a campus of distinctive charm in keepinK with the natural beauty of Florida. College to me, he said, is a place where knowledge is diffused and cultural levels raised. And he set out to establish vital curricula designed to enable the University to take its place among the leading institutions of the nation. Sledd Hall, a residence dormitory, sprang up in 1929 30; during the following year. Florida Field and the Infirmary were constructed. To make possible the football stadium, he personally endorsed notes and partially underwrote the financial guarantee. These achievements were followed by an addition to the Library; the reorganization of the College of Arts and Sciences, Pharmacy, and Journalism; the planning and building of the P. K. Yonge laboratory School; the construction of Graham Field; and the completion of the Seagle Building and the Dairy Products Laboratory. More new courses and departments, including the School of Forestry and the Hydraulics laboratory, construction of Murphree and Fletcher residence halls, completion of the addition to the Law Library, and the inauguration of University College have been among the featured Tigert firsts. The University College is recognized throughout the nation as a major educational development. Since the University of Florida, through the Tigert brand of courage and leadership, inaugurated the University College, other prominent institutions of higher learning throughout the country have adopted the plan. Dr. Tigert said upon one occasion, It is generally known throughout the collegiate world that the University of Florida has an exceptionally fine student government. Without prejudice, I think I can risk the statement that the excellence of this system is not exceeded in any other institution. The Honor System works more effectively at Florida than it does at most other institutions.” As a result of the steady improvement in the character of the institution, the University has received ample evidence that its work is being appreciated beyond the borders of the state. In the academic world, the installation of chapters of Phi Beta Kappa, the hallmark of excellence in liberal education, and of Sigma XI, the outstanding scientific organization, marked the culminating point of this recognition. Other major developments followed: the construction and management of Florida Union, and the establishment of the Institute of Inter-American Affairs on the University campus. During World War II. Dr. Tigert and the University contributed much to the war effort through the training of more than 5,000 military personnel. A commendation from the United States Signal Corps for the University's part in developing and putting into operation the first rangefinding device used by the Army in all theaters of war pays tribute to one of the most noteworthy accomplishments of the University under the direction of Dr. Tigert. Among other important accomplishments were the acquisition of the Yonge collection of Floridiana as a memorial; the addition of 300,000 volumes to the University Libraries: the inauguration of a statewide research program by the Florida Engineering Industrial and Experiment Station; and the forward step in the training of veterans, with emphasis placed on housing as many of the veterans and their families as possible. The construction of three veteran villages on campus property was a greater educational step than mast universities undertook. Foreseeing that the University of Florida will be required to handle many more students in the future than it has ever done in the past. Dr. Tigert has made specific recommendations for enlarged peacetime operation of the institution. Student enrollment has risen from 1,800 to 7,200 during his administration. At the conclusion of his nineteen years of service, he can take justifiable pride in the fact that largely through his efforts the construction of new buildings at an estimated cost of $5,000,000 is well under way. Under his direction plans are being formulated for further expansion of permanent physical facilities at the University, which will cost approximately $3,000,000. These buildings will constitute additional evidence of his untiring service and devotion to the welfare of the University. President Tigert can retire with pride in his accomplishments. His successor will find the hard work done and the blueprints drawn for a greater state university. An educator who stands in the front rank of university administrators in the nation, he has a keen insight into human nature and a sympathetic understanding of life which are rarely combined in one man. One of the greatest contributors to his success and happiness is his gracious wife, the former Edith Jackson Bristol, who has the respect and affection of the entire University community. He takes his hat and strolls across the campus—a developer and builder of youth. PAGE 9