Lewis W. Green

Lewis Warner Green (January 28, 1806 – May 26, 1863) was an American Presbyterian minister, educator, and academic administrator who was the president of Hampden–Sydney College, Transylvania University, and Centre College for various periods from 1849 to 1863. Born in Danville, Kentucky, baptized in Versailles, and educated in Woodford County, Green enrolled at Transylvania University but transferred to Centre College to complete his education. He graduated in 1824 and in doing so became one of two members of the school's first graduating class. After short periods studying medicine and law, he enrolled at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1831 but returned to Kentucky in 1832 before graduating. The reason for his return was his election as professor of political economy and ; he taught for two years, and became licensed as a preacher during that span, before taking a two-year leave of absence to travel to Europe. Some time after returning, he was elected by the Synod of Kentucky to be professor of oriental and biblical literature at Hanover College, though he stayed there for only one academic year before returning to Centre in 1839 to resume his prior teaching positions and take the office of vice president.

Green left Kentucky after a short time once again, this time in 1840 to teach oriental literature and biblical literature at Western Theological Seminary. He spent six years there, teaching and speaking at colleges around the area, before moving to Baltimore to preach full-time. While there, he fell seriously ill and was unable to regularly maintain the position, leading to his resignation after just over a year and a half. Around this time, he was being considered for the vacant presidency of Hampden–Sydney College and was unanimously elected to the position by the board of trustees in short order. He entered the position in January 1849 and recovered to good health soon afterwards. In addition to being president, he was a popular professor and preacher among students, and he was recruited by numerous other institutions during his seven-plus-year term. Among these institutions was Transylvania, who recruited him to their presidency shortly following the establishment of a normal school—the first in the state—by the Kentucky General Assembly, though the bill that created it was repealed after a year and a half and Green resigned in late 1857.

After being elected president of Centre College in August 1857, Green accepted the position following his departure from Transylvania and entered office in January 1858. He led the school while preaching in Danville through much of Centre's firsthand experience in the Civil War, including the nearby Battle of Perryville. He died in office in 1863 from an illness which he caught after helping injured soldiers recovering in Centre's main building, functioning as a hospital. He was buried in Danville's Bellevue Cemetery. He was a member of the Stevenson political family through the marriage of his daughter; as a result, he was the father-in-law of vice president Adlai Stevenson I, the great-grandfather of Illinois governor Adlai Stevenson II, and the great-great-grandfather of senator Adlai Stevenson III. Provided by Wikipedia