Kenneth G. Matheson
Encyclopedia
Cheraw, South Carolina
Cheraw is a town on the Pee Dee River in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 5,524 at the 2000 census and center of an urban cluster with a total population of 9,069. It has been nicknamed "The Prettiest Town in Dixie." The harbor tub USS Cheraw was named in the...
- November 29, 1931) was a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
at and a chancellor
Chancellor
Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...
of several educational institutions.
Early life
Matheson was an 1885 graduate of the South Carolina Military Academy, now known as The CitadelThe Citadel (military college)
The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, also known simply as The Citadel, is a state-supported, comprehensive college located in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. It is one of the six senior military colleges in the United States...
. He then served as commandant of cadets at Georgia Military College
Georgia Military College
Georgia Military College is a United States Military Junior College, high school, and middle school in Milledgeville, Georgia. GMC is one of five military junior colleges that participates in the Army's Early Commissioning Program. Cadets who graduate from GMC's two-year, military science-oriented...
in Milledgeville, Georgia
Milledgeville, Georgia
Milledgeville is a city in and the county seat of Baldwin County in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is northeast of Macon, located just before Eatonton on the way to Athens along U.S. Highway 441, and it is located on the Oconee River. The relatively rapid current of the Oconee here made this an...
from 1885 to 1888, at the University of Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
from 1888 to 1890, and at the Missouri Military Academy
Missouri Military Academy
The Missouri Military Academy is an all-boy college prep military school in the United States. The Academy is mainly a boarding school but also offers a day program, a summer school and a summer leadership camp...
from 1890 to 1896; he also taught English at the latter two institutions. In 1896, Matheson resigned to enter Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, and earned a Master's degree in English in 1897.
Georgia Tech
Matheson was hired at the Georgia School of Technology (later known as the Georgia Institute of TechnologyGeorgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
) as a junior professor of English in 1897, but was quickly promoted to full professor in 1898 due to his department head's sudden and mysterious resignation. He then became head of the English Department.
After school president Lyman Hall
Lyman Hall (academic)
Lyman Hall was a professor and president of the Georgia School of Technology . He is perhaps best known for bringing what is now the School of Polymer, Textile & Fiber Engineering to Georgia Tech...
's death on August 16, 1905, Matheson was elected chairman of the faculty and acting president. He was then officially appointed to the post in June 1906 and would serve until 1922. During his administration, Matheson oversaw the school's transition from a trade school to a technological university.
Matheson pioneered the bill that would eventually result in the establishment of the Georgia Tech Research Institute
Georgia Tech Research Institute
The Georgia Tech Research Institute is the nonprofit applied research arm of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States...
.
Drexel University
While still serving as acting president at Georgia, Matheson was elected president of Drexel Institute of Art, Science, and Industry, now known as Drexel UniversityDrexel University
Drexel University is a private research university with the main campus located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a noted financier and philanthropist. Drexel offers 70 full-time undergraduate programs and accelerated degrees...
, in the fall of 1921. Before taking office Matheson succeeded in establishing ties to other local colleges, universities and high schools. As a result Matheson was able to establish a formal cooperation between Drexel and the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
enabling students of the School of Home Economics to attend theoretical courses not available at Drexel. In April 1922 he took office and proceeded to increase the efficiency of the university. During his presidency Matheson expanded both the co-operative education program and the campus. In 1931 Matheson was granted a leave of absence by the Board of Trustees however he repeatedly postponed it until his death of a heart attack on November 29, 1931.