Randolph Sinks Foster | |
---|---|
President of Northwestern University | |
In office 1856–1860 |
|
Preceded by | Henry Sanborn Noyes |
Succeeded by | Henry Sanborn Noyes |
Personal details | |
Born |
Williamsburg, Ohio |
February 22, 1820
Died | May 1, 1903 Newton, Massachusetts |
(aged 83)
Spouse(s) | Sarah Miley Foster |
Parents | Israel Foster and Mary "Polly" Kain |
Alma mater |
Augusta College (Kentucky) Ohio Wesleyan University (honorary) Northwestern University (honorary) |
Profession | Educator |
Religion | Methodist |
Website |
Randolph Sinks Foster (February 22, 1820 – May 1, 1903) was an American Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1872.
Born on 22 February 1820 at Williamsburg, Ohio, U.S., the son of Israel Foster and Mary "Polly" Kain, he attended Augusta College in Kentucky, but left to become a Preacher in the Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church when he was only seventeen. He was ordained to the Traveling Ministry by Bishops Waugh and Hedding. He went on to become the Pastor of the Mulberry Street M.E. Church in New York City, where he met Daniel Drew, the financier who provided the original funding for the Drew Theological Seminary in Madison, New Jersey.
Prior to his election to the Episcopacy, Foster served in pastoral appointments and in educational work. He was President of Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, 1857-1860. He also accepted 's invitation to become Professor of Systematic Theology at Drew. After the death of Drew's first President in 1870, Foster was elected to that post, remaining there until becoming a Bishop in 1872, when he was assigned to the Cincinnati, Ohio area.
He died at Newton Centre, Massachusetts on 1 May 1903. He was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York.