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.

Francis Stoddard authored many books, including: The Modern Novel (1883), The ideal in Literature (1884), Psycho-Biography (1885), Women in the English Universities (1886), The Caedmon Poems (1887), Conditions of Labor in England (1887), Miracle Plays and Mysteries (1887), Tolstoi and Matthew Arnold (18?), T he uses of Rhetoric: Introductive Work in College Classes (1890), Literary Spirit in the Colleges (1893), The Study of the English Language (1899), The Introduction to the Works of Lord Byron (1899), The Evolution of the English Novel (1900) and Life and Letters of Charles Butler (1903). Stoddard's articles appear in The University Magazine, Inductive Work in College Courses (NYU 1, Series 10). He edited Poems of National Spirit (1904), and contributed to Anglia Enghische Studien, New Englander, Andover Review, Academy and other publications.

In 1886 Stoddard helped found the University Senate and served on that body until his retirement in 1914. Between 1904-1914 Stoddard was Secretary of the Senate and worked on several Senate committees including the Senate Committee for the State of High School Education in the City of New York established in 1898. Stoddard developed a high school visitation program with members of the faculty.

Although Stoddard's tenure as Dean of University College was relatively short he succeeded in substantially reducing the College deficit, established the honors program, initiated the Summer-Spring academic year and examined the issues of standardizing admission credentials and requirements, student conduct, academic scholarship and grades.

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From the guide to the Records of the Office of the Dean, University College of Arts and Pure Science, 1904-1936, (New York University Archives)

Frances Hovey Stoddard was born in Middlebury, Vermont, on April 25, 1847. He graduated with an A.B. with high honors from Amherst College in 1869 and subsequently began teaching. He married Lucy Maria in Springfield, Massachusetts on May 14, 1873, and they had a daughter, Lucy Stoddard. After 1873 Stoddard worked for several years in the cotton manufacturing business in Northampton, Massachusetts. He was a student at Oxford University from 1884-1886 and afterward spent two years at the University of California as an instructor of English literature. In 1888 Stoddard became Professor of English Language and Literature at New York University; he held that title until he retired in 1914 as Professor Emeritus. It was during his first year at NYU that the University began admitting graduate students as candidates for the doctoral degree. He also served as the Dean of the Faculty of the College of Arts and Pure Science (subsequently the College of Arts and Science) from 1910-1914.

Stoddard's published works include: The Modern Novel (1883); The Ideal in Literature (1884); Psycho-Biography (1885); Women in the English Universities (1886); The Caedmon Poems, Conditions of Labor in England, and Miracle Plays and Mysteries (1887); Tolstoi and Matthew Arnold (1888); The Uses of Rhetoric and Inductive Work in College Classes (1890); The Study of the English Language (1894), Lord Byron: Introduction to Works (1899); The Evolution of the English Novel (1900), and the Life of Charles Butler (1903). Stoddard also edited Poems of National Spirit (1904), and served thirty years as the editor of The Pocket Classics (old series), issued by Macmillan.

Stoddard received an honorary A.M. degree from Amherst College in 1886, an honorary Ph.D. from Western University of Pennsylvania (later the University of Pittsburgh) in 1896, and an honorary LL.D from NYU in 1914. He served as a member of the Century and Authors' Clubs, the Modern Language Association of America, and the American Association of University Professors. Considered one of the great teachers of NYU, Stoddard died in New York City on February 6, 1936.

From the guide to the Francis Hovey Stoddard Papers, 1905-1937, (New York University Archives)