Edgar Odell Lovett

Edgar Odell Lovett

Lovett pictured in The Campanile 1917, Rice yearbook
1st President of Rice University
Term 1912 – 1946
Predecessor none
Born April 14, 1871(1871-04-14)
Shreve, Ohio
Died August 13, 1957(1957-08-13) (aged 86)
Houston, Texas
Alma mater Bethany College, University of Virginia, University of Leipzig

Edgar Odell Lovett (April 14, 1871 – August 13, 1957) was an American educator and education administrator.

He was the first president of Rice Institute (now Rice University) in Houston, Texas. Lovett was recommended to the post by Woodrow Wilson, then president of Princeton University.[1][2]

Contents

Biography

Early life and career

Lovett was born in Shreve, Ohio, to Zephania and Maria Elizabeth (née Spreng) Lovett. After graduating from Shreve High School, he earned his B.A. at Bethany College in Bethany, West Virginia, in 1890. Lovett taught and studied at West Kentucky College, in Mayfield, Kentucky, and completed his first doctorate degree at the University of Virginia in 1895.[2] He completed his second doctorate in mathematics under the instruction of Sophus Lie at the University of Leipzig.[3] In 1897, Lovett lectured at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Virginia, and the University of Chicago.[4] In September 1897 he became an instructor at Princeton University, and in December he married Mary Ellen Hale. Mary Ellen was the daughter of the founder and head of West Kentucky College and the two met while he was there from 1890 to 1892 (Mary Ellen graduated from West Kentucky in 1892). He worked his way from instructor to assistant professor of mathematics (1898), professor (1900), and finally the head of the Department of Mathematics and Astronomy at Princeton (1908).[2]

He announced his retirement from Rice in 1941, but stayed on through World War II, and finally resigned in 1946.[5] He was succeeded by William Vermillion Houston.[6]

Family

Lovett and his wife would have two daughters, Adelaide (b.October 27, 1898) and Ellen Kennedy (1905–1906) and two sons Henry Malcolm (January 2, 1902 – June 11, 1997) and Laurence Alexander (b.1911).[7]

Mary Ellen became homebound with severe arthritis and rarely left their residence at the Plaza Hotel in Houston from 1929 until her death in 1952.[5] Lovett died in 1957 at Houston hospital after a two week illness,[8] and is buried at Glenwood Cemetery in Houston, Texas.[2]

Adelaide graduated from Rice Institute, the went to study at the Sorbonne in Pairs, her mother stayed in Paris with her. In 1922 she earned her diplome de la Sorbonne, and returned to Houston. Later that year she married Walter Browne "W." Baker (son of James A. Baker and brother of James A. Baker, Jr.), a prominent Houston banker (he was awarded the Department of the Navy's Distinguished Civilian Service for his service during World War II in managing the purchasing of equipment for the Navy). Adelaide was a co-founder and first president of the Houston Junior League in 1924.[9][10]

Henry Malcolm graduated from Rice and then obtained a law degree from Harvard University. After returning to Houston he joined the law firm of Baker & Botts (Baker, Botts, Parker & Garwood, now Baker Botts) in 1924 (with James A. Baker, Jr., father of James Addison Baker, III), and served as chairman of the Rice University board of trustees 1967 to 1973, and on the Board of Advisors of Harvard Law School from 1965 to 1971. Henry and his wife Martha Wicks set up the Henry Malcolm Lovett Endowment Fund for the Fondren Library and the Martha and Henry Malcolm Lovett Distinguished Service Professor of Musicology at Rice.[9][11] Lovett Boulevard in SW Houston which runs from Taft Street west to just south of Westheimer Road was named in his honor.

References

Biography portal
Houston portal

Notes

  1. ^ Boles, p. 39.
  2. ^ a b c d Edgar Odell Lovett. – Handbook of Texas Online. – Texas State Historical Association. – Retrieved: 2007-12-26
  3. ^ Boles, p.13.
  4. ^ Boles, pp.19–21.
  5. ^ a b Rogers, Karen and John Boles (lecture). – "Lovett Family Archives Arrive at Rice, Part II: A Talk by John Boles to the Rice Historical Society". – Rice Cornerstone. – Rice Historical Society. – Summer 2005 – Volume 10, Number 2. – (Adobe Acrobat *.PDF document). – Retrieved: 2008-07-11
  6. ^ "Houston to Houston". – TIME. – January 14, 1946. – Retrieved: 2008-07-11
  7. ^ Rogers, Karen and John Boles (lecture). – "Lovett Family Archives Arrive at Rice: A Talk by John Boles to the Rice Historical Society". – Rice Cornerstone. – Rice Historical Society. – Spring 2005 – Volume 10, Number 1. – (Adobe Acrobat *.PDF document). – Retrieved: 2008-07-11
  8. ^ "Dr. Edgar Lovett of Rice Institute; President of Houston School From Its Inception in 1907 Until 1941 Dies at '86". – New York Times. – August 14, 1957. – p.25. – Retrieved: 2008-07-11
  9. ^ a b City of Houston: Procedures for Historic District Designation. – City of Houston. – (Adobe Acrobat *.PDF document). – Retrieved: 2008-07-11
  10. ^ "Memorial-area woman honored for volunteerism – Junior League of Houston awards Adelaide Lovett Baker Award". – Houston Chronicle. – March 29, 2007. – Retrieved: 2008-07-11
  11. ^ "Houston attorney and son of first Rice president dies at 95". – Houston Chronicle. – June 12, 1997. – Retrieved: 2008-07-11
Academic offices
Preceded by
New position		 President of Rice University
1912–1946		 Succeeded by
William Vermillion Houston