William Chauvenet (24 May 1820, Milford, Pennsylvania - 13 December 1870, St. Paul, Minnesota) was an early American educator. A professor of mathematics, astronomy, navigation, and surveying, he was always known and well liked among students and faculty.
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William Chauvenet was born on a farm near Milford, Pennsylvania, in 1820 and was raised in Philadelphia. Early in life he exhibited a knack for mathematics and all things mechanical, and he attended Yale University. Entering Yale at age 16, he graduated in 1840 with high honors and soon after began his scholarly career by assisting a professor at Girard College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in a series of magnetic observations. In 1841 he was appointed professor of mathematics in the U.S. Navy and for a few months served on the U.S. steamer Mississippi, where he taught midshipmen. He later taught at and was instrumental in the establishment of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland.
In 1841 he was appointed a professor of mathematics in the United States Navy, and for a while served on Mississippi. A year later, he was appointed to the chair of mathematics at the naval asylum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was instrumental in the founding of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland.
During his time at the Naval Academy, he was offered two professorships at his alma mater: in 1855, the professorship of mathematics; and in 1859, the professorship of astronomy and natural philosophy at Yale. He declined both.
In 1859, he was offered a professorship at his alma mater at the same time he was offered a position at Washington University in St. Louis as professor of mathematics and astronomy. He chose St. Louis over New Haven and brought with him a deep love of music and a familiarity with the classics, in addition to being an outstanding figure in the world of science, noted by many historians as one of the foremost mathematical minds in the U.S. prior to the Civil War. It was Chauvenet who mathematically confirmed James B. Eads' plans for the first bridge to span the Mississippi River at St. Louis. The directors of the University chose him to be chancellor when his friend and Yale classmate Joseph Hoyt died in 1862. He came to his chancellorship in the midst of the Civil War in a state divided by the question of slavery.
Washington University went through a great period of growth during his chancellorship, adding dozens of professors, hundreds of students, and several new programs, including the establishment in 1867 of the law school. He served terms as vice president of the United States National Academy of Sciences and president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and was a member of both the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. After his death, the Mathematical Association of America established a prestigious prize in his honor, the Naval Academy named a mathematics building for him, and the U.S. Navy christened two ships Chauvenet.
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