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University Builder

Edgar Odell Lovett and the Founding of the Rice Institute

Author: John B. Boles  

Paperback

Rice University, one of America's preeminent institutions of higher education, grew out of the vision, direction, and leadership of one man: Edgar Odell Lovett (1871--1957). This updated edition of University Builder tells the fascinating story of an extraordinary educator and the unique school he created. Released in conjunction with the centennial anniversary of Rice University, John Boles's book provides both a compelling biographical narrative and a refreshing new view of American higher education in the first half of the twentieth century.

Rice University, one of America’s preeminent institutions of higher education, grew out of the vision, direction, and leadership of one man: Edgar Odell Lovett (1871-1957). University Builder is the fascinating story of this extraordinary educator and the unique school he created.

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PRODUCT INFORMATION

Summary

Rice University, one of America's preeminent institutions of higher education, grew out of the vision, direction, and leadership of one man: Edgar Odell Lovett (1871--1957). This updated edition of University Builder tells the fascinating story of an extraordinary educator and the unique school he created. Released in conjunction with the centennial anniversary of Rice University, John Boles's book provides both a compelling biographical narrative and a refreshing new view of American higher education in the first half of the twentieth century.

Rice University, one of America’s preeminent institutions of higher education, grew out of the vision, direction, and leadership of one man: Edgar Odell Lovett (1871-1957). University Builder is the fascinating story of this extraordinary educator and the unique school he created.

Read more

Description

Rice University, one of America's preeminent institutions of higher education, grew out of the vision, direction, and leadership of one man: Edgar Odell Lovett (1871--1957). University Builder is the fascinating story of this extraordinary educator and the unique school he created. Widely acknowledged, almost from its founding in 1912, as one of America's best universities, Rice is distinguished as both the smallest and the youngest institution in the top tier of American universities. In telling the tale of Lovett and his innovative, enduring vision for Rice, John Boles provides both a compelling biographical narrative and a refreshing new view of American higher education in the first half of the twentieth century.

Lovett was not a Texan; he was not even a southerner. Rather, with two Ph.D.'s in hand, he was a rising star at Princeton University when the trustees of the newly founded Rice Institute--chartered in 1891 by wealthy Houston merchant William Marsh Rice--called him in 1907 to be the school's first president. Working with a significant endowment, a vague charter, a supportive board, and a visionary's gift for planning, Lovett set out on a fact-finding tour of educational institutions around the globe. He transformed the idea of the Institute into a complete university, one that emphasized research as much as teaching and aspired to world-class status. He sought the best architect available to design the campus, lured distinguished faculty from leading universities across the globe to Texas, and constructed a far-reaching vision of a small, carefully planned, elite university that incorporated the most advanced educational practices and shaped Rice's development for the next century.

Lovett served as president of Rice for nearly forty years, proving himself to be an exemplary and charismatic leader who inspired two generations of students. He was the creator of Rice University in practically every way. Indeed, perhaps no other American university has been so shaped by its founder's vision. Boles's exceptional account of Lovett's remarkable academic achievement is a vital contribution to the legacy of Rice University and an important addition to the historiography of education in the early twentieth-century South.

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About the Author

John B. Boles is William P. Hobby Professor of History at Rice University and managing editor of the Journal of Southern History. He is the author of The South through Time: A History of an American Region; Black Southerners, 1619--1869; and numerous other books. In 2004, he was honored with the Rice University Distinguished Alumni Award, and he has received multiple teaching awards.

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Back Cover

"Thanks to John Boles's superb biography, Lovett, founding president of the Rice Institute, can now take his rightful place in the procession of great 'university builders' in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries." -- John R. Thelin, History of Education Quarterly "An inspiring saga, beautifully told. The leadership of one remarkable man in bringing Rice University from empty Texas prairie to a superb university is one of the great stories of higher education. We are fortunate that such a gifted historian has brought it to us." -- Edward L. Ayers, president, University of Richmond, and author of The Promise of the New South: Life after Reconstruction Rice University, one of America's preeminent institutions of higher education, grew out of the vision, direction, and leadership of one man: Edgar Odell Lovett (1871--1957). This updated edition of University Builder tells the fascinating story of an extraordinary educator and the unique school he created. Released in conjunction with the centennial anniversary of Rice University, John Boles's book provides both a compelling biographical narrative and an absorbing account of American higher education in the first half of the twentieth century.

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Product Details

Publisher
Louisiana State University Press
Published
30th May 2012
Edition
2nd
Pages
344
ISBN
9780807145203

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