HADLEY, Arthur Twining, 1856-
Born in New Haven, Conn, 1856; fitted for College at Hopkins Grammar School; A.B. Yale, 1876; studied political science for a year at Yale, and history and political science at the University of Berlin, 1877-79; Tutor at Yale, principally in German, 1879-83: University Lecturer on Railroad Administration, 1883-86; Professor of Political Science in the Graduate Department, 1886-99, and also during the absence of Professor Sumner, in the Academic Department, 1891-93; has also lectured at Harvard, at the Mass. Institute of Technology and elsewhere; Associate Editor of Railroad Gazette, 1887-89; author of numerous articles and monographs, and of several books, among them: Railway Transportation: Its History and its Laws; and Economics: An Account of the Relation between Private Property and Public Welfare. In 1899, on the retirement of Prof. Timothy Dwight, he was elected by the Corporation Thirteenth President of Yale, being the first layman to hold that office; LL.D. from several institutions, 1899.
ARTHUR TWINING HADLEY, LL.D., thirteenth President of Yale, was born in New Haven, Connecticut, April 23, 1856. He comes of an academic family. His grandfather, James Hadley, was a Professor of Chemistry in Fairfield Medical College in Herkimer county, New York. His father, James Hadley, is one of the most notable of Yale’s long line of notable instructors. His memory is treasured with feelings of woe by thousands of students throughout the country who have struggled through his (Greek Grammar; though as a teacher his memory is honored to-day by all of the large number of Yale students who came under his instruction. Arthur Twining Hadley fitted for College at the Hopkins Grammar School of New Haven and entered Yale in 1872. He graduated from Yale in 1876, being the Valedictorian of his class. He was one of the youngest men in his class, but Yale, and continued there in that capacity until 1883, teaching various branches, but mainly German. During the ensuing three years he was University Lecturer on Railroad Administration, contributing during this period a series of articles on transportation to Lalor’s Cyclopaedia of Political Science, and part of the article on Railways in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. In 1885 appeared his Railway Transportation: Its History and Its Laws, which is one of his best known works and has gone through translations into French and Russian. In 1886 Professor Hadley was elected by the Corporation to the Professorship of Political Science which he held until his election to the Presidency. Governor Harrison, in 1885, appointed him Commissioner [563] of Labor Statistics of the State of Connecticut, and his two reports in this capacity are marvels of research into the details of his work. It is impossible to more than summarize Professor Hadley’s writings. He has contributed numerous articles to the principal magazines of the country, and an article in Harper’s Magazine for April 1894 in which he laid stress upon the value of Yale Democracy, the importance of a high standard of scholarship and strict adherence to it, and the utility of athletics as a factor in University life. His greatest work. Economics: An Account on the Relation between Private Property and Public Welfare, appeared in 1896, and is in use as a text-book in a number of colleges. He was associated with Colonel H. G. Prout in the editorship of the Railroad Gazette from 1887 to 1889. In 1898 Professor Timothy Dwight resigned the Presidency of Yale, and the problem which confronted the Corporation in finding his successor was no small one. There was a general feeling that it would perhaps be well to break away from some of the established precedents into somewhat broader methods. After months of careful consideration the choice devolved upon Professor Hadley, who was elected Thirteenth President of the University in 1899. The very fact that he was chosen marks considerable of a departure from Yale’s traditions and shows the ability of the man, for he was the first President in all of Yale’s two hundred years of history who was not entitled to prefix Reverend to his name. He assumed office at Commencement in 1899, and began his duties with the well wishes of thousands of Yale Alumni all over the country. Professor Hadley married, June 3, 1891, Helen Harrison, daughter of former Governor Luzon B. Morris. They have three children: Morris, Hamilton and Laura Hadley.
Source: University and their Sons. History, Influence and Characteristics of American Universities with Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Alumni and Recipients of Honorary Degrees. Editor-in-chief, General Joshua L. Chamberlain, LL.D. Vol. II, pp. 562-563.