Wheeler, Benjamin Ide, 1854-1927

Biography

Benjamin ide Wheeler, Greek scholar, philologist and president of the University of California, was born July 15, 1854 at Randolph, Massachusetts. He attended Thornton Academy and Colby Academy prior to entering Brown University. Upon his graduation in 1875, he taught in Providence High School for two years, then became a tutor at Brown from 1879 to 1881. He continued his studies in Germany, at Leipzig, Heidelberg, Jena and Berlin from 1881 to 1885, obtaining his doctorate, summa cum laude, at Heidelberg in 1885. After travelling in Greece during the spring and summer of 1885, he went to Harvard as instructor in German and Latin. In 1886 he accepted a professorship at Cornell, teaching Greek and comparative philology, and publishing many related articles. In 1895 he was a member of the staff of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.

Wheeler turned down tempting offers from Colgate University and other schools to accept the presidency of the young University of California in 1899. This post he held until his resignation twenty years later in 1919, having seen the University expand in students, staff and physical structure. After his retirement, he resumed his teaching career, and in 1920 travelled to Japan as a member of a commission appointed by the Board of Trade on the Pacific Coast to attempt to strengthen relationships between Japan and the United States. Wheeler died in 1927.

Included among his publications are: Alexander the Great; Dionysus and Immortality; The Greek Noun Accent; and Introduction to the Study of Language.