Selected Class Histories College Class of 1831 Faculty and Trustees

Faculty

The January 1831 college faculty numbers five, three of whom have trained for the ministry and are practicing clergymen. Only the two instructors of scientific subjects have trained outside the theological seminary. It is interesting to note that in 1830 the student-faculty ratio is 18:1.

The medical faculty are also active practitioners. The medical school is organized on a proprietary basis, with the six senior faculty collecting tuition directly from students and dividing profits among themselves. Even if one takes into account both standing and adjunct faculty, the 1830 student-faculty ratio in the medical school is 41:1.

[Note: The medical faculty did not become salaried officers of the University until 1880.]

This list is transcribed directly from the University Catalogue of January 1831.

All five members of the faculty collegiate department work personally with the students, including Provost DeLancey.

Professors in the Collegiate Department

• Rev. William Heathcote De Lancey, D.D.
  Provost,
  Professor of Moral Philosophy.
• Robert Adrain, LL.D.
  Vice Provost,
  Professor of Mathematics.
• Rev. Samuel Brown Wylie, D.D.
  Professor of the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin Languages.
• Alexander Dallas Bache, A.M.
  Professor of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry.
• Rev. Edward Rutledge, A.M.
  Assistant Professor of Moral Philosophy, having charge of the Department of English Literature.

Professors in the Medical Deparment

• Philip Syng Physick, M. D.
  Professor of Anatomy.
• John Redman Coxe, M. D.
  Professor of Materia Medica and Pharmacy.
• Nathaniel Chapman, M. D.
  Professor of the Institutes and Practice of Physic and Clinical Medicine.
• Thomas Chalkley James, M. D.
  Professor of Midwifery.
• Robert Hare, M. D.
  Professor of Chemistry.
• William Gibson, M. D.
  Professor of Surgery.
• William Edmonds Horner, M. D.
  Adjunct Professor of Anatomy.
• William Potts Dewees, M. D.
  Adjunct Professor of Midwifery.
• Samuel Jackson, M. D.
  Assistant to the Professor of the Institutes and Practice of Physic and Clinical Medicine.
• Solomon W. Conrad
  Professor of Botany.

Other Associated Faculty

• Rev. James Wiltbank
  Master of the Eastern Grammar School.
• John Sanderson
  Master of the Western Grammar School.
• Augustus de Valville
  Instructor in French.
• Augustus Willis
  Instructor in Spanish.
• Herman Bokum
  Instructor in German.
• Lorenzo Daponte
  Instructor in Italian.

Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania

In addition to today’s customary responsibilities of managing insitutional assets and hiring senior managers, in the early 1830s the Trustees, through an elaborate committee structure, were actively engaged in the day-to-day operations of the University. The Provost did not become chief executive of the University, in the modern sense, until 1881. William Heathcote DeLancey was unusual in that he had been a Trustee before being named Provost.

This list is transcribed directly from the University Catalogue of January 1831. The Trustees are listed in order of seniority of service.

• Rt. Rev. William White, D.D.
• Edward Burd.
  
• William Rawle, LL.D.
• Benjamin R. Morgan.
• James Gibson.
• Horace Binney, LL.D.
• William Meredith.
• Benjamin Chew.
• Rev. James P. Wilson, D.D.
• Robert Waln.
• John Sergeant, LL.D.
• Thomas Cadwalader.
• Peter S. Duponceau, LL.D.
• Nicholas Biddle.
• Zaccheus Collins.
• Charles Chauncey, LL.D.
• Joseph Hopkinson, LL.D.
• Joseph R. Ingersoll.
• Rev. Philip F. Mayer, D.D.
• Philip H. Nicklin.
• Rt. Rev. Henry U. Onderdonk, D.D.
• Robert Walsh, LL.D.
• John C. Lowber.
• Rev. Thomas H. Skinner, D.D.
• James C. Biddle, Secretary.