Edwin B. Fred

Edwin Brown Fred (March 22, 1887 - January 16, 1981) was an American bacteriologist and scientist who was the 15th president of the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1945 to 1958. Born in Virginia, Fred studied at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the University of Gottingen. After a short training at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Fred took up a post in Wisconsin. He was dean of graduate school from 1934 to 1943, then he was dean of the College of Agriculture until 1945. He took office as president and was known for his reaction to the post-war increase in admission. Fred was president of the Society of American Bacteriologists in 1932. Edwin Brown Fred was born March 22, 1887 in Middleburg, Virginia. He studied at the Randolph-Macon Academy in Front Royal, then attended the Virginia Polytechnic. He received a bachelor's degree in 1907 and a master's degree in science in 1908. He then studied at the University of Gottingen in Germany, where he received a Ph.D. in bacteriology in 1911. The Virginia Polytechnic Institute hired him as an assistant professor, where he taught from 1912 to 1913. Then Fred was hired by the University of Wisconsin. In 1934, Fred was appointed dean of graduate school in Wisconsin. During World War II, he led a biological warfare study sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences. He was later a consultant to the Minister of War. For this work he was awarded a merit medal. In 1943, Fred was appointed Dean of the College of Agriculture and Director of the Agricultural Experimental Station. Two years later, Fred was appointed president of the university, and he held this position for thirteen years. His presidency is marked for expansion centers, which he is developing to cope with the post-war increase in registration. Fred married Rosa Helen Parrot on June 21, 1913; they had two children. He was president of the Society of American Bacteriologists in 1932. Fred was vice chair of the National Science Council and a member of the National Health Advisory Council and the Education Exchange Advisory Council Commission. He also served on the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for the Development of Teaching from 1946 to 1958. He died in Madison on January 16, 1981, and was buried in the Sharon Cemetery in Middleburg.