The Campus
(1879)
Number of students:
104
Number of degrees awarded:
7
Instate undergraduate tuition:
$75
New buildings:
Blaisdell (1869)
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William S. Clark, 1867-79
William S. Clark was one of the most colorful
figures in the history of the Massachusetts Agricultural College.
Clark was born in 1826 in Ashfield, Massachusetts. He
graduated from Amherst College in 1848, and went on to teach the natural
sciences at Williston Seminary until 1850. Clark then went abroad
to Germany for two years to study chemistry and botany at Goettingen,
earning his Ph.D in 1852. From 1852 to 1867 he was a member of Amherst
College's faculty as a Professor of Chemistry, Botany, and Zoology.
As a leading citizen of Amherst, Clark was a strong
advocate for the establishment of the new college there. He was appointed
to serve as one of the founding members of the college’s faculty and,
following the resignation of Paul Chadbourne, Clark was named President
in 1867, the year the college welcomed its first class of 56
students.
During his presidency, Clark pressured the state
government to increase funding for the new college and provide scholarships
to enable poor students, including women, to attend. The college faced
economic hardship early in its existence: enrollment dropped in the
1870s, and the college fell into debt.
From 1876-77, Clark travelled to Japan at the
request of the Japanese to establish an agricultural college at Sapporo. He
is still remembered in Japan for his famous parting words: “Boys, be
ambitious!” In Amherst, Clark strongly supported agricultural experimentation,
himself conducting research on the circulation of sap in the sugar
maple.
In 1879, Clark requested another leave of absence
to establish a “floating college”—a ship which would carry students
and faculty around the world. His request was denied, and he resigned.
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