Ruggles Prize

William Ruggles (September 5, 1797 – September 10, 1877) was a professor at George Washington University.

William Ruggles was born in Rochester, Massachusetts, about fifty miles south of present-day Boston, on Tuesday September 5, 1797. He was the son of Elisha Ruggles and Mary Clap who also parented six other children: Nathaniel, Micah, Henry, Charles, James, and Lucy. William was the second youngest child in his family. Not much is known about his childhood growing up in Massachusetts until he enrolled in Brown University; where he later graduated from, at the age of twenty-three, in the class of 1820. Two years after graduating from Brown University, Ruggles became a tutor at Columbian College. On February 9, 1821 Congress chartered Columbian College, a nonsectarian school but with Baptist sponsorship that would not become the George Washington University until January 23, 1904. In 1824, two years after he became a tutor, Ruggles became a Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, a position he would retain until 1865. In 1827 William Ruggles became the chair of both mathematics and natural philosophy. In 1865 Ruggles was made professor emeritus. He continued to lecture on political economy and civil polity from 1865 to 1874. He died at Schooley's Mountain, New Jersey, on Monday, September 10, 1877, five days after his eightieth birthday.

Ruggles was a man of many admirable characteristics including loyalty, conscientiousness, and morality, which are shown not only through the words of those who describe him but through his actions as well. The best example of William Ruggles' loyalty was shown in his dedication to the Columbian College itself. Until 1985, no person had a longer stay at the George Washington University. Ruggles came to the George Washington University in 1822 and stayed until his death, a record at the time, of fifty-five and a half years, which has only been surpassed once by Elmer Louis Kayser who came to the university as a student in 1914 and stayed until his eventual death in 1985. William Ruggles was involved at the Columbian College (George Washington University) from almost the beginning of the Columbian College. He lived through the drab years of 1826 through 1842 where mounting debt and pressure threatened to shut down the Columbian College and rejoiced harder than anyone when that debt was lifted. He served under the first six presidents of the institution and even served as acting president three times. He saw a large student body dwindle down to a handful of students due to the US civil war. Since the college buildings were being used as a hospital in the war efforts, classes were taught in the homes of professors. Lastly, Professor Ruggles had the enjoyment of being a contemporary to University President Welling.

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