Joseph Emery
Acting President, 1872

Joseph Emery, ca. 1885.
[OSU Archives #1516]

Joseph Emery served as the acting president and head of faculty in the summer of 1872, from the time of W.A. Finley's departure in June until B.L. Arnold arrived in September. During his incumbency he submitted the first Biennial Report of the College to the Governor for the period 1870-1872.

Joseph Emery was born June 2, 1833 in Pennsylvania. In 1867, Emery joined his brother-in-law, W.A. Finley, at Corvallis College where he taught mathematics, physics, geology, and physiology. After Arnold's arrival he resumed his faculty duties, helped to raise the funds to purchase the original lands for the OSU campus, and served on the College's Board of Trustees. In 1885 Emery left Corvallis and became an agent for the U.S. Indian Agency at Klamath [Falls]. He died January 18, 1924 at Salinas, California.

College Faculty, 1883. The College faculty for 1883-84 assembled for this group photograph outside the College building. They were (from left):
Edgar Grimm, Professor of Agriculture and Chemistry
Ida Burnett (Callahan), Primary Department
B.L. Arnold, President and Professor of Moral Philosophy and Physics
B.J. Hawthorne, Professor of Languages
Joseph Emery, Professor of Mathematics
W.W. Bristow, Preparatory Department
Not present was Miss E. McFadden, who taught drawing and painting. [OSU Archives #170]



Where to Find More Information about Joseph Emery

President's Office Records (RG 13)
Joseph Emery Lecture Notebook
Board of Trustees Records (RG 33)
Memorabilia Collection - Emery, Joseph
OSU Chronological History for the 1870s

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