History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/William F. King
WILLIAM F. KING was born near Zanesville, Ohio, December 20, 1830. He graduated at the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, in 1857, and became tutor in that institution, where he remained five years. In 1852 he was called to the chair of ancient languages at Cornell College, Iowa, and since that time has been closely identified with the educational interests of that institution and the State. Upon the death of President Fellows in 1863, he was made acting president and was formally president in 1865, which position he has held continuously since. He is the senior college president in Iowa, and probably in the United States. Mr. King has been president of the State Teachers' Association and for years served on the most important committees; he has long been a member of the educational council of the National Teachers' Association. In 1870 the Illinois Wesleyan University conferred upon President King the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and in 1887 he received the degree of Doctor of Laws from his alma mater and from the Iowa State University. In 1890 Dr. King was appointed by President Harrison member of the National Commission of the World's Fair. He was a member of the executive committee and vice-chairman of the committee on awards. Dr. King has been prominent in the councils of the Methodist Episcopal church, has been three times elected to the General Conference, and in the conference of 1896 was chairman of the committee on education. He is also a member of the Board of Education of the Methodist Episcopal church. Cornell College has grown during Dr. King's administration from an enrollment of two hundred thirteen students in 1863 to seven hundred twenty-six in 1902. In 1863 one student was graduated, while the average of late years has been, over fifty annually. The alumni number nine hundred forty-four. Cornell has, under Dr. King, become one of the strong and useful colleges of the church in this country.