Austin College Presidents

1900 through the AC centennial

 
  Reverend Thomas Stone Clyce

1900-1931

Rev. Thomas Stone Clyce
  Thomas Stone Clyce held the longest tenure of any president in Austin College history. He was born in Kinsgport, Tennessee, September 12, 1863. He received degrees from King College in Bristol, Tennessee, Columbia Theological Seminary and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Clyce served pastorates in Alabama and Kentucky before becoming president of Jackson Agricultural College in Jackson, Alabama, in 1896. Upon T. R. Sampson's resignation Clyce came to Austin College in 1900, bringing with him his wife, May Perrin, a formidable personality herself, who would make major contributions in the life of the college. During his tenure, Dr. Clyce presided over numerous changes in the physical plant. By 1910, a dormitory, Luckett Hall, replaced the wooden shacks that had served as dormitories, a multi-purpose YMCA building was erected, a fence and grandstand were added to the Athletic Park. Sherman Hall, Thompson Science Hall, and a powerhouse, later known as Cern Hall, were completed by 1915. By 1922, a new athletic field was added, and by 1927, a new gymnasium with a basketball court was built on it. Clyce had great plans for the construction of an administration building to replace Old Main as well as other projects, but most never came to fruition. Although he oversaw the groundbreaking, Clyce never saw the administration building progress beyond the framework erected in 1925. It was finally completed in 1947, the year after his death. Clyce also presided over important changes in the educational program. New courses in history, government, physical education, and pedagogy were added, the sciences and modern languages were expanded, and the traditional classical curriculum received less emphasis. The faculty grew, and a singing instructor was added for the first time. With the Great War came military instruction, and, with Dr. Clyce's support, so did coeducation. Clyce's years as President ended on a series of somber notes. In 1928, his daughter died in an airplane crash. In 1929, the Great Depression gripped the nation, and in 1930, a race riot devastated the Sherman community. Clyce retired in 1931, but remained active as President Emeritus and Professor of Philosophy until his death in 1946.
 
  Everett Brackin Tucker Everett Brackin Tucker

1931-1943

  Everett Brackin Tucker came to the presidency of Austin College on February 5, 1931, in the very long shadow of Dr. Clyce. Tucker was an educator and devoted to the cause of education, first and foremost. He was the first layman to hold the office of President of the College. Tucker was born near Smyrna, Tennessee, April 12, 1881 He was educated at Vanderbilt University and George Peabody College for Teachers, and received an LL.D. from Arkansas College in 1925. Tucker brought to Austin College thirty years experience as an educator, having served as President of Arkansas College, Director of the Forward Education Movement in Arkansas, Business Manager for the Arkansas Education Association, and editor of the Journal of Arkansas Education which he founded. Tucker endured some of the most difficult years Austin College had yet seen. When he assumed his duties, the College was a quarter million dollars in debt, and the Depression threatened to close it all together. The coming of World War II decimated enrollment even further, and in 1939, proposals for merger of Austin College and Trinity began to emanate from the Presbyterian Synod. The combined struggles divided members of the Synod, the Board of Trustees, and the administration. Tucker resigned in 1943. Nevertheless, under his administration, the net worth of the College increased, science, library and dormitory equipment increased, and a business school and aviation school were added. As part of the war effort, the College trained over 300 men and women during 1942 through Engineering, Science, and Management courses sponsored by the United States Office of Education. Tucker returned to Tennessee where he continued to teach. He was awarded the Austin College Founders Medal in 1963.
 
  Reverend William Barnett Guerrant

1944-1953

Rev. William Guerrant
  William Barnett Guerrant hailed from Danville, Kentucky. He was an English major at Centre College in Danville, where he received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees. He earned a Doctor of Sacred Theology degree from New York City Bible Seminary and a Doctor of Divinity from King College in Bristol, Tennessee. He served the ministry for ten years before becoming President of Stonewall Jackson College at Abingdon, Virginia, from 1927 to 1929. He was Chair of Bible and pastor of the University Church at Harrogate, Tennessee, and Superintendent of Bachman Memorial School and Home in Farner, Tennessee, before coming to Austin College in 1939 as Professor of Bible. He served as acting president in 1943 and his appointment to the presidency was announced during graduation in 1944.

Austin College saw many changes and advances under Guerrant's administration. In addition to the engineering, science, and management war training program, Austin College operated a Cadet Nurses training program in cooperation with Wilson N. Jones Hospital and hosted the Texas Home Guard and the Naval Reserve. In 1943, the 77th Flight Army-Air Training Corps filled Luckett Hall and part of the Y Building with Air Corp cadets. Funded by the G.I. Bill, the college provided education to a flood of returning veterans after World War II, prompting a surge of campus construction, new courses, and a fifty percent increase in the faculty. The College was admitted to the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools; the Administration Building was, at long last, completed in 1947; Paul Coffin Dormitory for Girls was built in 1948; the Hughey Gymnasium was erected in 1949; the Student Union and Adams Health Center in 1951. A department of Fine Arts was added in 1946 and a department of Home Economics in 1952. Also under Dr. Guerrant, the College celebrated it 100th anniversary.

 
 

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