William Jasper Kerr (November 17, 1863 – April 15, 1947) was an American academic in the states of Oregon and Utah. A native of Utah, he served as president of Oregon State University), known then as Oregon Agricultural College, Brigham Young College (not to be confused with Brigham Young University), and Utah State University), known then as Utah State Agricultural College. He later served as the first chancellor of what became the Oregon State Board of Higher Education, known then as the Oregon State Board of Higher Curricula. The administration building at Oregon State University is named in his honor.
Early life and education
Kerr was born on November 17, 1863, in Richmond in the then Utah Territory.[1] He received a bachelor's degree in Mathematics from the University of Utah in 1885.[1] He planned to study law, and turned down appointment to West Point in order to go into law, but never did go into the profession.[1] He married Leonora Hamilton in 1885, and had four daughters and two sons.[1][2]
Kerr began his academic career in 1887 when he joined the faculty of Brigham Young University as a mathematics professor. He also taught at the University of Utah.[2] He then served as president of Brigham Young College in Logan, Utah, from 1894 to 1900.[1] In 1900, he left Brigham Young to become the president of Utah State University, also in Logan.[2] Kerr left Utah State in 1907 and became the eighth president at Oregon State University (OSU), in Corvallis, Oregon.[1] When he was considered for president of the university in 1907, the public animosity for Mormonism invited attacks on Kerr's polygamous past, until he reasserted his rejection of the faith.[3]
He served as the president of OSU for 25 years, 1907 until 1932.[4] As president, he oversaw a large expansion of the school, adding 23 buildings and growing the campus from 225 acres (91 ha) to 555 acres (225 ha).[4] As part of the expansion he hired John C. Olmsted to draft a master plan for OSU's campus.[4] In 1911, he was the president of the Association of Land Grant Colleges and Universities.[1] Kerr left OSU in 1932 when he became the first chancellor of the Oregon State System of Higher Education serving in that position until 1935.[1][2]
Death and legacy
Following his retirement, Kerr moved to Portland, where he died on April 15, 1947, at the age of 83.[1] The library at Oregon State University had been named in his honor, but after it was renamed as The Valley Library his name was added to the administration building.[5]
