John McLaren McBryde
John McLaren McBryde | |
---|---|
5th President of Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College | |
In office July 1, 1891 – September 1, 1907 | |
Preceded by | Lunsford L. Lomax |
Succeeded by | Paul Brandon Barringer |
Personal details | |
Born | New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. | January 1, 1841
Alma mater | University of Virginia |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Confederate States of America |
Branch/service | Confederate States Army |
John McLaren McBryde (January 1, 1841 – March 20, 1923) was the fifth president of
After the war until 1867, McBryde farmed in
During McBryde's 16-year tenure as President of Virginia Agriculture and Mechanical College, the college expanded greatly. McByrde expanded the curriculum to include seven bachelor's degrees in Agriculture, Horticulture, Applied Chemistry, General Science, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Electrical Engineering and founded a graduate department in 1891. The new curriculum no longer reflected the name of the college and in 1896 the Virginia General Assembly changed the college's name to Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute, shortened in popular usage to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and then to VPI. The new name also brought new colors, which still stand as Chicago maroon and burnt orange, a school motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), and a new college yell which prompted the nickname Hokies. During his tenure, V.P.I.'s first native-limestone-clad, neo-Gothic-style building, known as "The Chapel", was constructed on the site where Newman Library stands today. McByrde's legacy caused him to be known as the "Father of the Modern VPI".
Honors
McBryde Hall, a large classroom building on the Virginia Tech Campus is named for McBryde. The Modernist structure, replaced an earlier building known as McBryde Hall, built in 1917 in the Collegiate Gothic style to replace the Preston and Olin Building, then known as the VPI shop building, that had burned to the ground in 1914.[6] Old McByrde hall was razed in the late 1960s and the current building was completed in 1972.[7]
References
- ^ Men of Mark in Virginia: Ideals of American Life; a Collection of Biographies of the Leading Men in the State, Volume 3 (Lyon Gardiner Tyler ed.). Men of Mark Publishing Company. 1907. p. 228. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- ^ Jones, Matt. "President Sands asks for review of building names". Collegiate Times. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
- ^ "President John McLaren McBryde". Virginia Tech Special Collections. April 26, 2010. Archived from the original on March 22, 2018.
- ^ "The McByrde Years". Retrieved 30 May 2016.
- ^ Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Historical Data Book: Centennial Edition, ed. Jenkins Mikell Robertson, Bulletin of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, vol. 65, no. 4, 69-70.
- ^ "Preston And Olin Building | History of Virginia Tech | Virginia Tech". www.unirel.vt.edu. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
- ^ "McBryde Hall". vt.edu. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
External links
- Records of the Office of the President, John McLaren McBryde, RG 2/5 at the Virginia Tech Special Collections and University Archives