Willamette University Office of the President records, 1857-2011

Francis S. Hoyt was born on November 5, 1822 in Lyndon, Vermont. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Wesleyan University, and later became the principal of the Wesleyan Institute. In 1850, the 28 year old minister traveled from the east coast to replace Reverend Nehemiah Doane as principal and teacher of the Oregon Institute. He also served as a librarian for the territorial library and editor of the Pacific Christian Advocate. Hoyt was dedicated to meeting the needs of the Oregon Institute. In 1852, he wrote at length to the Methodist Mission Society about the need for quality teachers, teaching materials, and resources to provide a quality education. In 1853, he became Willamette University's first president. He held that role until 1860, when he became the professor of chemistry at Ohio Wesleyan. He also served as editor of the Western Christian Advocate, elder of his church, and Professor of Biblical Theology and Greek New Testament at Baldwin University. Hoyt died on January 21, 1912.

Alvin Waller was born in Abington, Pennsylvania on May 8, 1808. He arrived in Oregon aboard the Lausanne in 1840. He was part of the Methodist Mission's "Great Reinforcement" and helped establish the Oregon Institute and Willamette University. Waller later became the Agent for Willamette University. He raised funds to repair buildings, build fences, and erect University Hall, later renamed Waller Hall in his honor.

Nelson Rounds was a Methodist Episcopal Minister and President of Willamette University from 1868 to 1870. He was born on May 4, 1807 in New York. Rounds was a graduate of Union College in New York, received his Doctor of Divinity from Hamilton University in 1833, and was given an honorary degree from Wesleyan University. On March 26, 1835, he and Mary Comfort married. They had 13 children. Rounds served as Professor of Ancient Languages at Cazenovia Seminary in 1836, editor of the Northern Christian Advocate from 1844-1848, and presiding elder of several important districts in the church. In 1868, he was appointed President of Willamette University, as well as Professor of Ancient Language and Moral Philosophy. Rounds left Willamette University for the state of Washington in 1870. He passed away on January 2, 1874.

George Whitaker, A.M., D.D, was born on May 14, 1836 in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1861 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and received a Master of Arts from Wesleyan in 1864. In 1888 Whitaker received a Doctor of Divinity from Fort Worth University, Texas. Succeeding Dr. Thomas Van Scoy at Willamette University, Whitaker served as president for two years from the fall of 1891 until September 1893 when he resigned over a disagreement relating to the administration of the University. After leaving Willamette, Whitaker resumed pastoral duties until 1899 when he was hired as president of Portland University, where he helped work out a merger with Willamette University as the Portland school closed in 1900. Returning to Massachusetts, Whitaker served as pastor in Cambridge, Lowell, Linden and Orient Heights. He was active in civic affairs and also served as the librarian of the New England Methodist Historical Society. George Whitaker died in 1917.

John Coleman was born in Northampton, New York, in 1847. Educated at the Montpelier Seminary in Vermont, Coleman also received honorary degrees from both Syracuse and Nebraska Wesleyan. Coleman was 55 years of age when he was appointed to the office of president on February 11, 1902. Coleman had the task of liquidating $35,000 worth of debt and then initiating a campaign to raise a $100,000 endowment fund. Although $35,000 was pledged a little over a year, Coleman toiled for all six years of his presidency to collect the money. Securing a new academic building was also on Coleman's list. He even sought funding from Andrew Carnegie in the amount of $40,000 only to be turned down and informed that Willamette "may be a university in embryo, but it certainly does not seem to be yet a university." He resigned on February 18, 1908, following a growing difference of opinion with the Board of Trustees. Coleman had maintained an active membership in the New York-based Troy Conference of the M.E. Church so, after leaving WU, he returned to administrative work with the Methodist church. Coleman died on October 20, 1914.

Reverend Fletcher Homan, D.D. was the eleventh president of Willamette University, serving from 1908 to 1914. He was born in Iowa in 1868 and received both his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts from Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. He later earned a Bachelor of Sacred Theology from the Garrett Biblical Institute in Evanston, Illinois. Before becoming a Methodist minister in 1898, Homan spent several years in the mercantile business. When offered the position at Willamette, he was acting as the Vice President of Simpson College, his alma mater, and his primary responsibilities were financial affairs. Homan's predecessor at Willamette University, J.H. Coleman initiated an endowment campaign to ensure that, for the first time, the university would have a solid financial backing. Under Homan's guidance, the endowment reached its $500,000 goal. In addition to the completion of the endowment campaign, Homan's tenure saw the construction of Eaton Hall, the liberal arts building funded by a donation from A.E. Eaton, proprietor of the Union Woolen Mills and a prominent Methodist in Oregon. Despite Homan's accomplishments for the university, his approach to running its daily operations caused friction between himself and the students and faculty. He resigned his position as university president in June of 1914 and was offered a one-year, paid leave of absence.

Carl Gregg Doney, 1867-1955, was born in Columbus, Ohio. He graduated from Ohio State University with a B. A. and legal degree. After practicing the law briefly, Doney entered the ministry of the Methodist Church in 1893. He pastored a number of churches, and then went to West Virginia Wesleyan College in 1907 as President.

Doney came to Willamette University in 1915, taking charge of an institution in need of new buildings and better support for faculty and staff. During his tenure Doney oversaw the building of a new Lausanne Hall and gymnasium. A second fire in Waller Hall in 1919 also resulted in the rebuilding of Willamette University's first building. He also set in motion the process to raise the monies for these buildings and organized a committee to add $1,250,000 to the university endowment.

Doney stepped down as President in 1934 and retired in Columbus, Ohio. He died in 1955.