Oscar Craig

Oscar J. Craig (1846-1911) was the first president of the University of Montana. Craig served as the president between July 1895 to October 1908, and he managed the university almost single-handedly for those thirteen years. Craig taught a few classes each semester, as well as helping to establish the campus itself. He also founded a significant amount of the programs at the university that still persist today. Prior to graduating from DePauw University in 1884, Craig served in the position of Superintendent of City Schools in Sullivan, Indiana for a few years. In 1883, he became a professor at Purdue University, teaching political economy and history before moving to Montana to found the University. Following his presidency, Craig retired from education in 1908 due to ill health.

Craig was born in 1846 in Jefferson County, Indiana. He served in the 1st Regiment of the Indiana Heavy Artillery during the American Civil War as a private to Captain George W. Branson from August 13, 1864 to July 22, 1865. Craig was discharged from service at age 18 on July 22, 1865, a few months after the end of the Civil War. He was positioned in New Orleans, Louisiana when he received his discharge letter. Craig married Narcissa G. Craig (1848-1937) after serving in the war, and Narcissa would go on to inherit Craig's estate when he died in 1911.

Craig earned his undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree in 1881 from Asbury University and later went on to earn his postgraduate Master's Degree in 1884 from DePauw University. Finally, he achieved his Ph.D. in History and Political Science from the University of Wooster in Ohio in 1887. Craig taught political science and history courses at Purdue University for roughly a decade before going to Montana in 1895.

Prior to the arrival of Oscar Craig, the University of Montana consisted of a single building that was built in 1881 and it remained that way until 1895. The number of faculty that were working in the university before 1895 was five people, but during Craig's time as president, that number grew to 27. Craig created a wide variety of programs, and many of them still persist today. He created the Schools of Engineering and Pharmacy, the departments of History, Education, English, Literature, Vocal Expression, Chemistry, Mathematics, Latin and Greek, Modern Languages, Physics and Geology, Biology, Music, and Drawing.

...
Wikipedia