James Burrill Angell
| James Burrill Angell | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | January 7, 1829 Scituate, Rhode Island |
| Died | April 1, 1916 (aged 87) Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Resting place | Forest Hill Cemetery |
| Alma mater | Brown University |
| Title | President of the University of Michigan |
| Predecessor | Erastus Otis Haven |
| Successor | Harry Burns Hutchins |
| Spouse(s) | Sarah Swoope Caswell |
| Children | James Rowland Angell, Alexis Caswell Angell, Lois Thompson Angell |
| Parent(s) | Andrew Aldrich Angell, Amy Aldrich Angell |
James Burrill Angell (January 7, 1829 – April 1, 1916) was an American educator, academic administrator, and diplomat. He is best known for being the longest-serving president of the University of Michigan (1871–1909). Under his leadership Michigan gained prominence as an elite public university. Today, he is often cited by Michigan administrators for providing the vision of Michigan as a university that should provide "an uncommon education for the common man."
Angell was a graduate of and professor of languages at Brown University, editor of The Providence Journal (1860–1866), and president of the University of Vermont (1866–1871). He served as U.S. Minister to China (1880–1881) and to Turkey (1897–1898). Several of his descendants also became well-known educators and academics.
James Angell was born January 7, 1829, in Scituate, Rhode Island, the eldest of eight children. The Angells had been a prominent family in and around Providence, Rhode Island since its founding in 1636 by Roger Williams and his companion Thomas Angell. Though scant, there is evidence suggesting Thomas Angell's ancestors were relations of Henry I of England. Thomas Angell's grandson, also named Thomas, had settled the farm where James was born in 1710, and also founded the Angell Tavern, where the leaders of Scituate held its town meetings after its incorporation in 1730 (both George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette are also said to have stayed there).
He started his schooling in the local school, but Angell's parents placed him at the age of eight with a Quaker tutor who taught him arithmetic and surveying. At twelve, he left home to attend a seminary in Seekonk, Massachusetts in order to study Latin, but after one term went to study at the Smithville Seminary, where he stayed until the age of fourteen. Unsure what career path to take, he had worked on the family farm for two summers, and also unsuccessfully attempted to find clerk jobs with Providence businesses. When his father informed him that he had the financial means to send James to college, he decided to attend Brown University. A year too young to enroll, he went first to University Grammar School in Providence, where one of his instructors was Henry S. Frieze, who himself would later serve as acting president of the University of Michigan while Angell was abroad on diplomatic assignments.
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