William Anthony Granville 1863–1943

DR GRANVILLE, PRESIDENT OF GETTYSBURG 13 YEARS, DIES AT 79

Dr. William Anthony Granville, 79, president of Gettysburg College from 1910 to 1923, vice president and director of the Washington National Insurance company and the author of a calculus textbook used in most American schools and colleges, died last Thursday at his home in Chicago.Immediate predecessor to Dr. Henry W.A. Hanson. Doctor Granville had been serving with the educational department of the Chicago Insurance firm for the greater part of the time since resigning the college presidency, March 1, 1923

The Gettysburg Times {Gettysburg, Pennsylvania}February 14 1963

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GRANVILLE, Ida (Irvin) & hus. William A. adm. ch. Mar. 3, 1895 by certificate; she from church of Disciples (Campbellite), McPherson,Kan; he from Bethany (Lutheran) Church, Lindsburg,Kan.

Ida (Irwin) & hus. W{illia}m A., dism. & recom. Feb 2.2, 1904 to English Lutheran Church, New Haven.

William A.& w. Ida (Irvin) Granville, adm.ch.Mar.3, 1895 by certificate; he from Bethany (Lutheran) Church, Lindsburg,Kan; she from Church of Disciples(Campbellite), McPherson,Kan.

W{illia}m A. & w. Ida (Irwin) Granville, dism.& recom. Feb.2 1904 to English Lutheran Church, New Haven

Connecticut Church Record Abstracts, 1630-1920 for William Granville

BIOGRAPHY

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William Anthony Granville (1864-1943) was unanimously elected the sixth president of Gettysburg College by the Board of Trustees on June 14, 1910.

An active Lutheran, he was the first layman to serve as president. After teaching mathematics at Bethany College in Kansas and serving as their treasurer, he attended Yale University where he earned a bachelor of philosophy in 1893 and a doctor of philosophy in 1897. While still a student there, he embarked on a 15 year teaching career serving on the university's mathematics faculty.

Granville is noted for many positive changes he effected while at Gettysburg College, one of the most noteworthy ones being that the College was one of 22 Pennsylvania Institutions to appear on the first list of accredited colleges and universities issued by the Middle States Association under his presidency in 1921.

Although he was generally respected by students and faculty, especially for his skill as an instructor in the classroom, Granville experienced two waves of controversy during his tenure and resigned in 1923.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTES

The bulk of the Granville papers consist mainly of correspondence from the later years of his presidency arranged chronologically and alphabetically. Much of this correspondence relates to the admission and financial aid. Of some note is a series of letters between Granville and John F. Dapp, chair of the Board of Trustees, relating to the Board investigation of Granville's controversial decision in the spring of 1922 to dismiss two instructors, one being a department chair, and the subsequent hiring of replacements. Most of the other papers generated while he was in office were lost in the flood of 1996. The collection includes material from his inaugeration in 1910, a promotional publication in 1916 to increase enrollment, a 1922 report to the Board of Trustees, a financial statement relating to the Million Dollar Fund Campaign, and his mathematics lecture notebook.

Gettysburg College-RG-2.0.6

The Papers of the Office of the President of Gettysburg Colle.... RG-2.0..6 The Papers of the Office of the President of Gettysburg College. William Anthony Granville

(1910-1923)

OBITUARY WILLIAM ANTHONY GRANVILLE1863 - 1943

William Anthony Granville, Ph.D., LL.D., vice-president and director o fthe Washington National Insurance Company, Evanston, Illinois, passed away at his home in Chicago on February 4, 1943, at the age of 79. Death resulted from a heart attack. He is survived by his widow, two daughters, and a granddaughter. Dr. Granville performed his duties right up to the day of his passing. Services were held at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Chicago Saturday, February 6. Dr. Granville was nationally known as an outstanding mathematician, and several of his textbooks on calculus and other mathematical subjects are used in schools and colleges throughout the country. He was a professor of mathematics at Yale from 1895 to 1910, following which he served as president of Gettysburg College until 1923, and for several years he also

occupied the post of president of the American Federation of Lutheran Brotherhoods. On March 1, 1923 he became affiliated with the Washington National Insurance Company.

Those of his colleagues who had the privilege of knowing Dr. Granville personally, knew him to be a man of boundless energy, keenly interested in his work to the end and extremely successful in any task he set out to accomplish. They knew him as a person of broad knowledge not only of his own work but of all important Subjects of the day. Dr. Granville was a very able and convincing public speaker. With all his high attainments, his colleagues especially like to remember him as a friend who was never too busy to help the cause of others.