Albert A. Murphree
| Albert A. Murphree | |
|---|---|
University of Florida President Albert A. Murphree, circa 1927.
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| Born |
April 29, 1870 Chepultepec, Alabama |
| Died | December 20, 1927 (aged 57) Gainesville, Florida |
| Education |
B.A., Nashville (1894) M.A., Florida State (1902) |
| Occupation | Mathematics Professor University President |
| Employer |
Florida State University University of Florida |
| Spouse(s) | Jennie Henderson Murphree |
Albert Alexander Murphree (April 29, 1870 – December 20, 1927) was an American college professor and university president. Murphree was a native of Alabama, and became a mathematics instructor after earning his bachelor's degree. He later served as the third president of Florida State College (later renamed Florida State University) from 1897 to 1909, and the second president of the University of Florida from 1909 to 1927. Murphree is the only person to have been the president of both of Florida's original state universities, the University of Florida and Florida State University, and he played an important role in the organization, growth and ultimate success of both institutions.
Murphree was born near Chepultepec, Alabama in 1870. His father was Jesee Ellis Murphree, a Confederate veteran of the Civil War; his mother was Emily Helen Cornelius. His parents raised him in a family of ten children in Walnut Grove, Alabama, where he attended community schools and a local two-year college. He graduated from the University of Nashville with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1894, and taught mathematics at several high schools and small colleges in Alabama, Tennessee and Texas. In 1895, he became a mathematics instructor at the West Florida Seminary (now known as Florida State University) in Tallahassee, Florida, and two years later, its board of trustees appointed him as the seminary's third president in 1897, at the age of 27. Later, Murphree married Jennie Henderson, the daughter of one of the seminary's trustees. He subsequently started and completed the academic work for a Master of Arts degree while serving as president of the seminary, renamed Florida State College in 1901.
As President of West Florida Seminary, Murphree worked to create Florida's first liberal arts college by 1897, and in 1901 it was reorganized into the Florida State College with four departments: the College, the College Academy, the School for Teachers and the School of Music. Under his leadership, the Florida State College produced the state's first Rhodes Scholar in 1905, Frederic "Fritz" Buchholz (1885-65).
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