BENEDICT, HARRY YANDELL (1869-1937).
Harry Yandell Benedict, tenth president of the University
of Texas, was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on November 14,
1869, the son of Joseph and Adele (Peters) Benedict. In 1877
his mother, with Yandell and his brother Carl, moved to Texas
to occupy land acquired during the Republic of Texas era by
her grandfather, S. W. Peters, on the Brazos River in Young
and Stephens counties; with them came Adele Benedict's father,
H. J. Peters. Young Yandell was taught by his well-educated
mother at home except for eight months when he attended schools
in Graham and Weatherford. The family had a library of 1,000
books brought by the Peters family from Kentucky.
Benedict entered the University of Texas on examination in
February 1889 and graduated with a B.S. with first honors
in civil engineering in 1892. He received his M.A. in 1893.
While completing his work at the university, he was a fellow
(1891-92) and a tutor (1892-93) in pure mathematics. From
1893 to 1895 he served as an assistant at the McCormick Observatory
at the University of Virginia. For the next three years (1895-98),
he studied at Harvard, where he received his Ph.D. in mathematical
astronomy in 1898. He was in charge ad interim of mathematics
and astronomy at Vanderbilt University in 1899. In 1900 he
married Ada Stone of Henderson, Texas. They had two sons.
Benedict joined the faculty of the University of Texas at
the beginning of the 1899-1900 session as instructor of mathematics.
He rose rapidly in rank until he became professor of applied
mathematics and astronomy in 1907. He served as director of
extension from 1909 to 1911. In 1911 he was made dean of the
College of Arts and Sciences, a position he kept until 1927,
when he was elected president. From 1913 until 1920 he also
served as dean of men. He was president from 1927 until his
death. During his presidency an extensive building program
added fifteen new buildings to the campus. His dream was to
see the completion of the University of Texas McDonald Observatory,
but he died two years before it opened. He wrote Book of Texas
with John A. Lomaxqv (1916), Unified Mathematics with two
other mathematicians (1915), A Source Book of Legislative
History of the University of Texas (1917), Peregrinusings
(1924), and numerous articles.
He was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science, a president of the Texas Academy of Science,qv
and a member of the American Mathematical Society, the American
Astronomical Society, the National Education Association,
the Texas State Teachers Association,qv the Society for the
Promotion of Engineering Education, the American Statistical
Association, Phi Beta Kappa, Tau Beta Pi, the Fortnightly
Club, Town and Gown, the Rotary Club, the University Club,
and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He was a Democrat. Benedict
was granted honorary doctor of laws degrees by Baylor in 1920
and Southwestern in 1929. He died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage
on May 10, 1937. At the time, he was working on a history
of the University of Texas; the unfinished manuscript is in
the university archives. Benedict was buried in Oakwood Cemetery.
Benedict Hall, on the UT campus, named in his honor, was dedicated
in April 1953.
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