Nathan S. S. Beman
Nathan Sidney Smith Beman (1785–1871) was the fourth president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He was born in what is now New Lebanon, New York, on November 26, 1785. He graduated from Middlebury College in 1807. He then studied theology and preached in Portland, Maine, and Sparta, Georgia. In 1818, he became president of Franklin College in Athens, Georgia, which was the founding college of the University of Georgia, although he only served a year in that position. He then returned to preaching in Sparta, Georgia, at Mount Zion Presbyterian Church until 1822, when he became pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Troy, New York.
In 1824, he became a trustee of Middlebury College, a position he maintained until his death. (He was also elected president of Middlebury College in 1846 but declined the position.) He received a doctor of divinity from Williams College in 1824 and a doctor of laws from Middlebury College in 1852. He was a vice president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute from 1842 until 1845, when he was elected president. He continued as president of RPI until 1865. He died on August 6, 1871, in Carbondale, Illinois, at the age of 86.[1] Beman Park, located just north of the RPI campus, is named in his honor.
References
- Peterson, Owen (1986). A Divine Discontent: The Life of Nathan S. S. Beman. Mercer University Press. ISBN 978-0-86554-170-2.[2]
- Biography of Beman at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Archives
External links
Media related to Nathan S.S. Beman at Wikimedia Commons
- Nathan S.S. Beman at Mt. Zion historical marker near Sparta, Georgia
- Articles with short description
- Short description matches Wikidata
- Commons category link from Wikidata
- Articles with FAST identifiers
- Articles with ISNI identifiers
- Articles with VIAF identifiers
- Articles with WorldCat Entities identifiers
- Articles with GND identifiers
- Articles with J9U identifiers
- Articles with LCCN identifiers
- Articles with SNAC-ID identifiers
- Articles with SUDOC identifiers
- Presidents of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- 1785 births
- 1871 deaths
- Middlebury College alumni
- Williams College alumni
- Presbyterian Church in the United States of America ministers
- People from New Lebanon, New York
- Presbyterians from New York (state)