William Bennett Bizzell

Class of
1936
William Bennett Bizzell

William Bennett Bizzell

“Few if any men of our generation were consulted more widely on questions of educational policy. He was the adviser of university executives everywhere, a formulator of faculty programs, and a maker of college presidents.'
George Lynn Cross, 1945

Biography

William Bennett Bizzell was born in Texas in 1876. An only child, he was tutored during the elementary grades and gained a lifelong appreciation for great books. During his life he acquired a library of more than 14,000 books, not including his private collection of Bibles, one of the finest in the nation. Bizzell earned degrees from several institutions of higher learning in Texas, Illinois, and at Columbia University. Prior to becoming president of the University of Oklahoma, he served as president of Texas State College for Women (now Texas Woman's University) and Texas A & M College. He married Carrie Wray Sangster in 1900. Vitally interested in science, Bizzell was active in creating the University of Oklahoma Research Institute in 1941, and was a lifetime member of the Oklahoma Academy of Science. Among the many milestones during his administration at the University of Oklahoma some of the best known are: granting of the university’s first doctorate degree, the establishment of the University of Oklahoma Press, and the establishment of the School of Medicine and School of Nursing in Oklahoma City. Dr. Bizzell held the position of president until 1941, when he became President Emeritus and Chairman of the Sociology Department.

Fun fact

Dr. William Bennett Bizzell’s 31-year record as a college president is one of the longest in the nation’s history.

Oklahoma connections

Bizzell became the president of the University of Oklahoma on July 1, 1925.

Hometown

Norman

Profession

Educator

Presenter

Born

1874

Died

1944
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