Joseph Willard
| Joseph Willard | |
|---|---|
| 11th President of Harvard University |
|
| Preceded by | Samuel Langdon |
| Succeeded by | Eliphalet Pearson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 29, 1738 Biddeford, Maine |
| Died | September 25, 1804 (aged 65) New Bedford, Massachusetts |
| Alma mater | Dummer Academy |
| Religion | Congregational |
Joseph Willard (29 December 1738 – 25 September 1804) was an American Congregational clergyman and academic. He was president of Harvard from 1781 until 1804.
He was educated at the Dummer Academy (now known as The Governor's Academy). He was left fatherless at an early age, and made several coasting voyages. Through the generosity of friends he entered Harvard College, where he received a B.A. in 1765, and an M.A. in 1768. He was a tutor at Harvard until 1772, when he began serving as pastor at the First Congregational Church in Beverly, Massachusetts. In 1780 he was a charter member and first corresponding secretary of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1781, he became president of Harvard, and served until his death.
Willard was the father of Cambridge Mayor Sidney Willard.
He published a few sermons, a Latin address on the death of George Washington, prefixed to David Tappan's Discourse (Cambridge, 1800), and mathematical and astronomical papers in the Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. He was a sound Greek scholar, and left a Greek grammar in manuscript.
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