Albert A. Murphree | |
|---|---|
 University of Florida President Albert A. Murphree, circa 1927. | |
| Born | Albert Alexander Murphree April 29, 1870 Chepultepec, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | December 20, 1927 (aged 57) Gainesville, Florida, U.S. |
| Education | B.A., Nashville (1894) M.A., Florida State (1902) |
| Occupation(s) | Mathematics Professor University President |
| Employer(s) | Florida State University University of Florida |
| Spouse | Jennie Henderson Murphree |
Albert Alexander Murphree (April 29, 1870 – December 20, 1927) was an American college professor and university president. Murphree was a native of Alabama, and became a mathematics instructor after earning his bachelor's degree. He later served as the third president of Florida State College (later renamed Florida State University) from 1897 to 1909, and the second president of the University of Florida from 1909 to 1927. Murphree is the only person to have been the president of both of Florida's original state universities, the University of Florida[1] and Florida State University,[2] and he played an important role in the organization, growth and ultimate success of both institutions.
- ^ The University of Florida was first known as the "University of the State of Florida," and its creation was the result of the 1905 consolidation of four predecessor institutions, including the University of Florida at Lake City (formerly known as Florida Agricultural College until 1903), the East Florida Seminary in Gainesville, the St. Petersburg Normal and Industrial School, and the South Florida Military College in Bartow. The school's official name was shortened to the "University of Florida" in 1909.
- ^ Florida State University was first known as the West Florida Seminary from its founding until 1901, then as Florida State College from 1901 to 1905, as the Florida Female College from 1905 to 1909, and from 1909 to 1947 as the Florida State College for Women. Adding to the confusing succession of names, the Florida Legislature granted the West Florida Seminary the right to call itself the "University of Florida" from 1885 to 1903, although it is unclear how widely used this title was, given that the school continued to call itself the West Florida Seminary and then Florida State College throughout this period. Aspiring to refashion Florida Agricultural College into a more comprehensive university, the legislature renamed it the "University of Florida," a name which it used exclusively from 1903 to 1905. As a result of the Buckman Act, Florida Agricultural College was abolished and its academic programs merged into the new University of the State of Florida in 1905.