Stoddard, Francis Hovey, 1847-1936

Francis Hovey Stoddard, university educator and administrator, was born on April 25, 1847, in Middlebury, Vermont, the son of Solomon and Francis Elizabeth (Greenwood) Stoddard. Between 1884 and 1886 Stoddard studied English philology at Oxford University, England. In 1869 he earned the A.B. degree from Amherst College. After graduating Stoddard taught in Northampton, Massachusetts, and was later employed in the cotton manufacturing business there. In 1873 he married Lucy Maria Smith of Springfield, Massachusetts. They had one daughter, Lucy. In 1887 he served as Instructor of English at the University of California. In 1888 Stoddard came to New York University and assumed a position in the newly created Department of English Language and Literature. In 1910 Stoddard was appointed Dean of the University College of Arts and Pure Science.

In 1896 he was awarded an honorary Ph.D. degree from Western University of Pennsylvania (now the University of Pittsburgh) and in 1914 an honorary LL.D. degree from New York University. His memberships included the Century Association, the Authors' Club and the American Philological Association. Stoddard retired from New York University in 1914 and died in New York City in 1936.

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