William Oxley Thompson

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For other persons named William Thompson, see William Thompson (disambiguation).

William Oxley Thompson (November 5, 1855 – December 9, 1933, born in Cambridge, Ohio) was the fifth President of The Ohio State University. Thompson was educated at Muskingum College and Western Theological Seminary. An ordained minister, Thompson spent the first half of his career in Presbyterian ministry. Upon his wife's death in 1885 he turned to higher education and took a job at Synodical College of the Synod of Colorado, followed by Miami University (1891-1899).

His extensive service at Ohio State University (26 years) is honored with a larger-than-life bronze statue of President Thompson in academic dress, positioned in front of the eponymous main library (Thompson Memorial Library) on "The Oval" (the central greenspace on the Ohio State University campus). He is known for being involved in students education and social lives, presiding over the Ohio State win over Oxford University on October 10, 1924 in intercollegiate debate. Thompson's tenure at Ohio State was marked by two seminal events. The first occurred in 1906 with the passage by the Ohio Legislature of the Eagleson Bill, which formalized and legally locked in Ohio State's flagship role in the state's public system of higher education. The Eagleson law mandated that only Ohio State, among Ohio's public universities, would be allowed to offer doctoral education or conduct basic research. The second event, and the culmination of both the raison d'être for Ohio State's founding in 1870 and the aim of the Eagleson Bill in 1906, occurred in 1916 with Ohio State's election into the Association of American Universities.

Preceded by James Hulme Canfield	The Ohio State University President 1899-07-01–1925-11-05	Succeeded by George Washington Rightmire

v • d • e Presidents of The Ohio State University

Orton • W. Q. Scott • W. H. Scott • Canfield • Thompson • Rightmire • McPherson • Bevis • Fawcett • Enarson • Jennings • Gee • Sisson • Kirwan • Jennings • Holbrook • Alutto • Gee