Records of the President, Francis H. Horn (Rec. Gr. 1.9)

Biographical/Historical Note

Francis H. Horn, the sixth president of the University of Rhode Island, served from July 1, 1958 to August 31, 1967, during the last two months of which he was on leave. Horn was born in Toledo, Ohio in 1908 and attended the public schools of that city. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1930 with a degree in English. He earned an M.A. in English Literature from the University of Virginia in 1934 and Master of Arts and Doctorate in Education from Yale University in 1942 and 1949 respectively.

Horn came to Rhode Island after a long and distinguished academic career in posts throughout the world. From 1930 to 1933 he was an instructor in English and History at the American University in Cairo, Egypt. In 1936 he was appointed Assistant Dean at the Junior College of Commerce, now Quinnipiac College in Connecticut, where he served for six years in progressively more responsible positions.

After military service, Horn joined the faculty of Johns Hopkins University as Dean of McCoy College, the evening division, Director of the Summer Session, and Associate Professor of Education. In 1951 he was appointed acting chairman of the Department of Education and chairman in 1952. In 1953 he was appointed president of Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, where he served for four years. He resigned the presidency of Pratt in 1957 and served as a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Higher Education at Southern Illinois University during the 1957-58 academic year. He assumed the presidency of the University of Rhode Island on July 1, 1958.

During Horn’s nine years at the University of Rhode Island the University underwent extraordinary growth in both enrollment and physical plant. A new library was constructed and opened in 1965. Two new graduate schools, the Graduate Library School and the Graduate School of Oceanography were established in the early 1960's. The Graduate School of Oceanography, in particular, became internationally known and continues to be one of the University's most prominent programs. In addition, the Dental Hygiene program, the Bureau of Government Research, and the Faculty Senate were all established in 1960. After his resignation from the presidency in 1967, Horn remained active in academic administration as successively the president of the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities of New York, president of Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Executive Vice-president of Wagner College on Staten Island, president of the American College in Switzerland, and director of the British branch of New England College at Arundel in Sussex. He retired to Kingston, RI in 1985. He died on Monday January 11, 1999.