Theodore D. Woolsey

Theodore Dwight Woolsey (October 31, 1801 - July 1, 1889) was an American scientist, author, and president of Yale College from 1846 to 1871. Theodore Dwight Woolsey was born on October 31, 1801 in New York. His mother was Elizabeth Dwight (1772-1813), and his father was William Walton Woolsey (1766-1839). He graduated from Yale College in 1820, spent a year at the Law School in Philadelphia, and studied theology at Princeton for two years. For some time he was a tutor at Yale University, and then went abroad to study Greek in Leipzig, Bonn and Berlin. From 1831 to 1846, he was a professor of Greek at Yale. His mother's brother Timothy Dwight (1752-1817) was president of Yale University 1795-1817. Jeremiah Day was the only president Yale had between family members. He was elected an associate member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1845. As president-elect of Yale, he taught students about history, political economy, political science, and especially international law. He resigned from the post of president of Yale University in 1871. After Noah Porter became president, this office returned to the family, as his cousin, who had once removed Timothy Dwight V (1828-1916), was elected in 1886.