About Amherst Johnson Chapel West Wall

Born April 6, 1848, in Warsaw W. NY, Merrill Gates graduated from the University of Rochester in 1870. He held the position of principal of Albany Academy for 12 years and President of Rutgers College in New Jersey (1882-1890, before becoming President of Amherst College in 1890. Gates died on August 11, 1922.

Born on March 16, 1779, in Connecticut, Heman Humphrey graduated from Yale College in 1805. In addition to being a writer, he was ordained as a Congregational minister in Fairfield, CT (1808), and then moved to Pittsfield, MA  (1817). After serving on the Board of Trustees at Williams College, Humphrey was appointed President of Amherst College in 1823. He died on April 3, 1861.

Zephaniah Swift Moore, a Congregational clergyman and educator, was born on November 20, 1770 in Massachusetts. He graduated from Dartmouth College (1793), and later served as President of Williams College (1811-21). He left Williams in 1821 to found Amherst College, acting as Amherst's first President until his death on June 29, 1823.

Born in 1805 in Massachusetts, Stearns graduated from Harvard College (1827), and then attended Andover Theological Seminary. Ordained in 1831, he served as Minister of the  First Evangelical Congregational Church in Cambridgeport, MA (1831-54). From 1954 until his death on June 8, 1876, he served as President of Amherst College, one of the longest presidential tenures in the College's history. (Extra: History of Stearns Steeple.)

Edward Hitchcock was born on May 24, 1793, in Deerfield, MA. Driven by interests in science and religion, he was ordained as a pastor of the Congregational Church in Conway, MA (1821-25). He was the first chemistry and natural history professor at Amherst College (1825-45). Known for his pioneering work in paleontology, Hitchcock, a lifelong advocate for higher education, was named President of Amherst College in 1845. He died on February 27, 1864.

Julius Seelye was born on September 14, 1824. He attended Auburn Theological Seminary and studied in Halle, Germany. In addition to serving as President of Amherst College from 1876-1890, he was a pastor of the First Dutch Reformed Church (1853-58), and a Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy at Amherst College (1859-90). Seelye died on May 12, 1895.

Born on October 14, 1853 in New York, George Daniel Olds was a graduate of the University of Rochester (1873). He studied mathematics in Heidelberg, Germany and eventually became a Professor of Mathematics at Rochester (1884-91) and at Amherst College (1891-1927). Before becoming President of Amherst College in 1924 Olds served as Dean of the College from 1909 to 1922). Olds died on May 10, 1931.

Born May 11, 1883, in New York, Stanley King graduated from Amherst College in 1903, and later from Harvard Law School. He was the director of the W. H. McElwain Shoe Co. (1906-17) and Eastern Manager of the International Shoe Co. (1922-27). King was also a member of Council of National Defense during WWI. During his tenure as President of Amherst College, he was instrumental in developing the “New Curriculum” and in establishing the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. King died on April 28, 1951.

Alexander Meiklejohn was born on February 3, 1872, in England. He graduated from Brown University with a B.A. (1893) and a M.A. (1895) and earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Cornell University (1897). Before becoming President of Amherst College in 1912, he served as a Professor of Philosophy and the Dean of Brown (1901-12). Meiklejohn died on December 17, 1964. (Extra: The Meiklejohn Fellows Program)

Charles Woolsey Cole, Class of 1927, became the twelfth president of Amherst College at the age of 39, the youngest person to hold the position. A distinguished educator and administrator, Cole had major impacts on both the College’s curriculum and endowment. After his presidency, Cole became the United States Ambassador to Chile from 1961–1964.