John Hiram Lathrop

John Hiram Lathrop (January 22, 1799 – August 2, 1866) was a well-known American educator during the early 19th century . He served as the first President of both the University of Missouri and the University of Wisconsin as well as president of Indiana University.

John Lathrop was born in Sherburne, New York in 1799. He attended Yale University, graduating in 1819 and teaching for three years at Farmington, Connecticut. He later became a tutor at his alma mater from 1822 until 1826 when he was admitted to the bar and practiced at Middletown, Connecticut. He also spent some time teaching in Norwich, Vermont and Gardiner, Maine. In 1829 he became professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York.

He was married to Frances E. Lothrop [sic] student of Sarah Pierce's Litchfield Female Academy. Her mother was a sister to Harvard University president John Thornton Kirkland and daughter of Samuel Kirkland, founder of Hamilton College.

His son is Gardiner Lathrop who was founder of the Kansas City law firm Lathrop & Gage.

The University of Missouri was founded in 1839 as the first public or state university west of the Mississippi River. Professor Lathrop was chosen as its first president in 1840, a position he held until 1849. He is credited with laying the foundations for the university's first century.

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