Alonzo S. Church

Alonzo S. Church (April 9, 1793 – May 18, 1862) was the sixth president of the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens. He served in that capacity from 1829 until his resignation in 1859.

Church was born on April 9, 1793 in Brattleboro, Vermont and died on May 18, 1862 in Athens. He was a 1816 graduate of Middlebury College. He initially joined the UGA faculty as a Professor of Mathematics and served in that capacity for ten years before assuming the presidency.

Although Church served longer than any president of the University, there were numerous clashes with student and faculty during his tenure which resulted in declines in enrollment and faculty upheaval.

During Church's tenure, the following campus buildings were erected: Classroom/Library (Southern half of current Academic Building, 1831), the Chapel (1832), Phi Kappa Hall (1836), Lumpkin House (Rock House, 1844), Lustrat House (1847), Garden Club House (1857) and The Arch (1858) (funded through sale of the University Botanical Garden for $1,000).

President Church's son, Alonzo Webster Church, was Librarian of the United States Senate. President Church's great-grandson, Alonzo Church, was also a renowned Professor of Mathematics; he taught at both Princeton University (his alma mater) and UCLA. President Church's daughter, Julia, married George Alexander Croom, owner of Casa de Laga Plantation in Tallahassee, Florida and brother of Hardy Bryan Croom, a planter and recognized naturalist, who discovered the rare Torreya tree.

Church Street in Athens, Georgia is named in Church's honor.

References

• History of the University of Georgia, by Thomas Walter Reed, University of Georgia, 1949. (See especially Chapters IV and V.)
• Church, Alonzo, in The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, vol. IX, James T. White & Company, 1899, pp. 180–181.
• Rev. Dr. Alonzo Church in A Standard History of Georgia and Georgians by Lucian Lamar Knight, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1917, vol. V, pp. 2659–2660.
• From Ahmedunggar to Lavonia Presidents at the University of Georgia 1785-1997, University of Georgia Libraries, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library
• Alumni Heritage: The Portrait of Dr. Alonzo Church, University of Georgia Alumni Association.
• Famous people of Eatonton and Putnam County, Eatonton-Putnam Chamber of Commerce and Putnam Development Authority.
• Portrait of Alonzo Church from Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Franklin College, University of Georgia, Athens, 1852-53.
• Church-Waddel-Brumby House (built by Church, currently serves as the Athens Welcome Center).
• Homewood (Church's summer residence).