Frank Aydelotte
Encyclopedia
Frank Aydelotte was a U.S. educator. His full name was Franklin Ridgeway Aydelotte. He is known for redefining Swarthmore College
as an institution while he was president between 1921 and 1940 and was also the director of the Institute for Advanced Study
from 1939 until 1947.
Aydelotte was born in a small town in Gibson County, Indiana, the son of James Ridgeway Aydelotte and Cynthia Ann (Hollingsworth) Aydelotte, and attended Indiana University
where he was an English major, a member of the Sigma Nu
fraternity, earned a varsity letter in football and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1911. After graduation he became an English professor first at a teaching college in California, Pennsylvania
, then at Vincennes University
and Louisville Male High School
in Louisville, Kentucky
. He became one of the first Rhodes Scholars and studied at Brasenose College, Oxford University.
where he successfully blended the educational processes he learned at Oxford with the traditional Hicksite
Quaker
values the college was founded on. He expanded the college to an economically viable size and developed a broad-based liberal arts educational curriculum that stressed academic excellence.
He is known for introducing the Honors program at Swarthmore, a program based on his experiences at Oxford. The system is based on the premise that the only true education is self-education, and the idea was to create a set of seminar courses for selected students that were more challenging than the regular curriculum. These students would not receive grades or examinations, but would receive oral examinations at the end of the senior year given by external examiners. This replaced the lecture method of teaching for the advanced students, and introduced the notion of the students reaching the faculty. This method of teaching has become the signature of a Swarthmore College education.
(1939–1947) the institute had many notable faculty including: Albert Einstein
, Kurt Gödel
, John von Neumann
and J. W. Alexander
. He also wrote The American Rhodes Scholarships;: A review of the first forty years that reviews the seven wills of Cecil Rhodes the creation of the Rhodes-Milner Round Table Groups
from the first and the Rhodes Scholarships from the last.
Aydelotte was a member of the Anglo-American committee that recommended Britain allow significantly more Jews to emigrate to Palestine after World War II.
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....
as an institution while he was president between 1921 and 1940 and was also the director of the Institute for Advanced Study
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
from 1939 until 1947.
Aydelotte was born in a small town in Gibson County, Indiana, the son of James Ridgeway Aydelotte and Cynthia Ann (Hollingsworth) Aydelotte, and attended Indiana University
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana...
where he was an English major, a member of the Sigma Nu
Sigma Nu
Sigma Nu is an undergraduate, college fraternity with chapters in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Sigma Nu was founded in 1869 by three cadets at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia...
fraternity, earned a varsity letter in football and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1911. After graduation he became an English professor first at a teaching college in California, Pennsylvania
California, Pennsylvania
California is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the Monongahela River. The population was 5,274 as of the 2000 census. California is the home of California University of Pennsylvania. Founded in 1849, the borough was named for the territory of California following...
, then at Vincennes University
Vincennes University
Vincennes University is a public university in Vincennes, Indiana, in the United States. Founded in 1801 as Jefferson Academy, VU is the oldest public institution of higher learning in Indiana. Since 1889, VU has been a two-year university, although baccalaureate degrees in seven select areas are...
and Louisville Male High School
Louisville Male High School
Louisville Male Traditional High School is a public secondary school serving students in grades 9 through 12 in the southside of Louisville, Kentucky, USA. It is part of the Jefferson County Public School District....
in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
. He became one of the first Rhodes Scholars and studied at Brasenose College, Oxford University.
President of Swarthmore College
By 1921 Aydelotte was president of Swarthmore CollegeSwarthmore College
Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....
where he successfully blended the educational processes he learned at Oxford with the traditional Hicksite
Elias Hicks
Elias Hicks was an itinerant Quaker preacher from Long Island, New York. He promoted doctrines that embroiled him in controversy that led to the first major schism within the Religious Society of Friends...
Quaker
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
values the college was founded on. He expanded the college to an economically viable size and developed a broad-based liberal arts educational curriculum that stressed academic excellence.
He is known for introducing the Honors program at Swarthmore, a program based on his experiences at Oxford. The system is based on the premise that the only true education is self-education, and the idea was to create a set of seminar courses for selected students that were more challenging than the regular curriculum. These students would not receive grades or examinations, but would receive oral examinations at the end of the senior year given by external examiners. This replaced the lecture method of teaching for the advanced students, and introduced the notion of the students reaching the faculty. This method of teaching has become the signature of a Swarthmore College education.
Institute for Advanced Study
During Aydelotte's time as director of the Institute for Advanced StudyInstitute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
(1939–1947) the institute had many notable faculty including: Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
, Kurt Gödel
Kurt Gödel
Kurt Friedrich Gödel was an Austrian logician, mathematician and philosopher. Later in his life he emigrated to the United States to escape the effects of World War II. One of the most significant logicians of all time, Gödel made an immense impact upon scientific and philosophical thinking in the...
, John von Neumann
John von Neumann
John von Neumann was a Hungarian-American mathematician and polymath who made major contributions to a vast number of fields, including set theory, functional analysis, quantum mechanics, ergodic theory, geometry, fluid dynamics, economics and game theory, computer science, numerical analysis,...
and J. W. Alexander
J. W. Alexander
J. W. Alexander may refer to:* James Waddel Alexander , American Presbyterian minister and author* John White Alexander , American portrait painter and illustrator...
. He also wrote The American Rhodes Scholarships;: A review of the first forty years that reviews the seven wills of Cecil Rhodes the creation of the Rhodes-Milner Round Table Groups
Rhodes-Milner Round Table Groups
The Round Table movement, founded in 1909, was an association of organizations promoting closer union between Britain and its self-governing colonies. The movement began at a conference at Plas Newydd, Lord Anglesey's estate in Wales, over the weekend of 4-6 September. The framework of the...
from the first and the Rhodes Scholarships from the last.
Aydelotte was a member of the Anglo-American committee that recommended Britain allow significantly more Jews to emigrate to Palestine after World War II.
Publications
- Frank Aydelotte, The Oxford Stamp and Other Essays and Articles, Kessinger Publishing, (May 1, 2005) ISBN 1-4179-3674-6
- Frank Aydelotte, The American Rhodes Scholarships;: A review of the first forty years, Princeton University Press (1946) ASIN B0006EUH2G
- Frank Aydelotte, Breaking the Adademic Lock Step, Harper & Brothers (1944) (No ISBN)
- Frank Aydelotte, Elizabethan Rogues and Vagabonds, Frank Cass; 1 edition (October 6, 1967), ISBN 0-7146-1099-2
- Frank Aydelotte, Honors courses at Swarthmore, Columbia (1931) ASIN B0008938RK
- Frank Aydelotte, Elizabethan Seamen in Mexico and Ports of the Spanish Main, The American Historical Review, Vol. 48, No. 1. (Oct., 1942), pp. 1–19. URL: JSTOR Stable
- Frank Aydelotte, What the Americans Rhodes scholar gets from Oxford, s.n (1920) ASIN B00088LUVC
- Frank Aydelotte, Honors courses in American colleges and universities, National research council of the National academy of sciences (1924) ASIN B00087DUWK
- Frank Aydelotte, The educational program of Swarthmore College, The College (1933), ASIN B0008938SE
- Frank Aydelotte, The Religion of Punch, The Nation, Volume: 100 • Issue #: 2601 • Date: May 6, 1915, The Nation Archive
Further reading
- Michael G. Moran. Frank Aydelotte and the Oxford Approach to English Studies in America, 1908-1940. University Press of America, 2006.
- Michael G. Moran. "The Road Not Taken: Frank Aydelotte and the Thought Approach to Engineering Writing." Technical Communication Quarterly 2.2 (1993): 161-75.
- Michael G. Moran. "Frank Aydelotte: AT&T's First Writing Consultant, 1917-1918." Journal of Technical Writing and Communication 25.3 (1995): 231-241.