BIOGRAPHIES

Source:
* Centennial History of Columbus, and Franklin Co., Ohio
 by William Alexander Taylor
 - Vols. I  & II -
1909
 

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WILLIAM O. THOMPSON. D.D.. LL.D. Dr. William O. Thompson, who measures up to a high standard in educational circles, has since 1899 been president of the Ohio State University. Throughout his entire life actuated by a desire to make his labors of service and benefit to his fellowmen, he has been a factor in moral and intellectual progress and there has come to him the recognition of his own capability in successive promotions that have eventually brought him to his present position of responsibility and importance.      Dr. Thompson was born in Cambridge, Guernsey county, Ohio. on the 5th of November, 1855. His ancestors for some generations were identified with agricultural interests and bore their part, not only in the work of material development in the various localities in which they lived, but were also active in support of general progress and upbuilding. In his youthful days Dr. Thompson was a pupil in the public schools in the villages of New Concord and Brownsville, neither of which are far distant from his native town. For come time he was under the instruction of hiss Rosa Kerner, now a resident of Zanesville, Ohio, and remembers that period as among the most pleasant and profitable of his school days. The knowledge that he had acquired through the means offered by the state but made him a thirst for more and. desirous of obtaining a college education, he resolutely set to work as a farm hand in order to earn the fund necessary for such a course. Eventually he was matriculated in Muskingum College at New Concord and there on the completion of the classical course won the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1878.      The fact that farm work was more readily obtained and commanded a better remuneration in Illinois than in Ohio led him to go to Lawn Ridge in that state, where he was employed as a farm hand through the summer months, while in the winter seasons he engaged in teaching. With these occupations and the systematic pursuit of his own line of studies, contributory to his hopes and ambitions, he managed to keep himself busily employed and incidentally accumulated a sufficient sum to enable him to enter the Western Theological Seminary at Allegheny City. Pennsylvania, for in the meantime he had determined to become a minister. He was graduated in 1882 and was now well equipped for his chosen life work. He then entered the home missionary field, beginning his labors at Odebolt, Iowa, where he remained until 1885. He had previously been licensed to preach by the Zanesville Presbytery in session at Dresden, April 13, 1881, and was ordained by the Presbytery of Fort Dodge, Iowa, July 13, 1882. On concluding his labors at Odebolt, Iowa, he removed to Longmont, Colorado, where he served as pastor for six years, during which time he was also president of the Longmont College. The successful work which he did in educational lines resulted in his receiving a call to the presidency of the Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, in 1891. Accepting this, he remained at the head of the institution for eight years or until 1899, when he assumed the presidency of the Ohio State University offered him by its board of trustees. Here he has labored continuously since and his efforts have been attended with excellent results. In all of his work he has held to high standards and has continually sought out new methods whereby his own usefulness and the influence of the school would be increased. The purpose of teaching is to develop capacity and Dr. Thompson is in perfect accord with President Eliot, of Harvard, who said, "What is needed is continuous education, which lasts all through life.'' It has therefore been the aim and purpose of Dr. Thompson to give the students under his control the foundation for such an education. preparing them to meet whatever comes to them of joy or sorrow, of success or failure, believing that every circumstance holds its lesson and that every condition or point of accomplishment should but serve as a starting point for other labor.      In 1881 Dr. Thompson received from his alma mater the degree of Master of Arts and in 1891 that of Doctor of Divinity, while in 1897 the Western University of Pennsylvania at Allegheny City conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws . During his residence in Columbus he has not only stood as the exponent of higher education but in all that makes for good citizenship he has been intensely interested, lending the weight of his influence and cooperation to further many movements for general good. He has been a member of the Board of Trades a. member of the city board of education and has done important public service on great civic occasions, where wisdom, rather than words is required to render such occasion impressive. His entire life. save for the brief period which he devoted to farm work to obtain necessary funds, has been given to teaching, sometimes from the pulpit, again from the lecture platform and also in the schoolroom. In all that he has done he has furnished substance worthy to be woven into history and has left the impress of his individuality in large measure upon those who have come under his guidance, planting in the soil thus offered the seeds of truth. which in later years have frequently been instrumental in making choice between good or evil. While he finds delightful companionship among men of strong intellect and broad culture, he possesses moreover an abiding sympathy that enables him to understand the individual and to render assistance to those with whom he comes in contact, enabling them to climb toward his own level. (Source: Centennial History of Columbus, and Franklin Co., Ohio by William Alexander Taylor - Vol. II - 1909 - Page 22)

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