Science Faculty at King's College and Columbia College
1754 - 1854
[N=28; 19 on medical faculty]

King's College
[N=7; 5 on medical faculty]

1.  Daniel Treadwell, 1757-1760
Professor of Natural Philosophy
1757-1760 (died)
[1st science appointee at KC/CC; appointed at age 22]
His position filled initially by Robert Harpur, then Samuel Clossy   
Graduate of Harvard College (1754); protege of John Wintrop
Replaced by Robert Harpur
Source:  Clifford Shpton, Sibley's Harvard Graduates, XIII

2. Robert Harpur, 1762-1767
Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, 1761-63
Professor of Mathematics, 1764 -1767; Therefater, private tutoring
University of Glasgow/Presbyterian
To NYC in 1761
Vigorous Patriot during Revolution
CC Board of Trustees, 1787-1795
Source: DAB                         

3. Samuel Clossy, M.D.  1763-1775
Professor of Natural Philosophy, 1763-1767
Transferred to Professor of Anatomy, 1767-1776
One of the five prime movers behind the King's College Medical School
b. 1724, Ireland
Trinity College, Dublin  M.D. (1751)
To NYC in 1763
Returned to Ireland in 1776 -- a Loyalist

4. Samuel Bard, M.D. 1767-1775
Professor of Midwifery, 1767-75
b. Philadelphia, 1742
Episcopalian
King's Coollege, 1756-58; Edinburgh M.D. 1765       
One of 5 prime movers in establishing KC Medical School
Loyalist during Revolutionary War
Briefly joined CC faculty, 1785-87
d. Hyde Park, 1821
Source: J.B.Langstaff, Doctor Bard of Hyde Park (1942)

5. John Jones, M.D. 1767-1775
Professor of Surgery, 1767-75
b. Jamaica, NY, 1729
Quaker
University of Rheims M.D. 1751
One of 5 prime movers for establishing KC Medical School in 1767
Plain Remarks on the Treatment of Wounds and Fractures (1775)
Active supporter of the Revolutionary cause
Benjamin Franklin's physician on removal to Philadelphia in 1781
d. 1791, Philadelphia
Source: DAB

6. Peter Middleton, M.D., 1767-1775
Professor of Pathology, 1767-1775
b. Scotland, 1730?
University of St. Andrews -- M.D. 1752
One of 5 prime movers for establishing KC Medical School
Incorporator of NY Hospital, 1770
d. NYC, 1781
Source: DAB

7. John V. Tennent, M.D. 1767-1770
Professor of Midwifery
1767-1770 (resigned)
Medical training in Leyden
One of 5 prime movers for establishing KC Medical School
Source:  Byron Stookey, A History of Colonial Medical Education
in the Province of NY (1962)

Columbia College
[N=21; 12 served on medical faculty]

8. John Kemp, 1785-1812
Professor of Mathematics
1785-1812 (died)
Succeeded by Adrain
b. Scotland, 1763
Graduate of Aberdeen University
Married; Resided #2 College
Involved with DeWitt Clinton planning Erie Canal
Portrait in 1908 Century Show
d. New York City 1812
Source: D.A.B.

9. Samuel Bard, M.D., 1785-1786
Professor of Natural Philosophy
1785-1786 (resigned to join medical faculty)
Columbia medical faculty, 1786-1810
Succeeded by Gross
b. Philadelphia, 1742
Episcopalian
Two years at King's College (1762-64); Trained in medicine at Edinburgh
King's College medical faculty, 1767-1775
Portrait in Century Show
d. Hyde Park, 1821
Source: J.B.Langstaff, Doctor Bard of Hyde Park (1942)

10. Ebenezer Crosby, M.D., 1785-1788
Professor of Midwifery, 1785-88 (died)

11. Charles McKnight, M.D., 1785-1791
Professor of Surgery, 1785-1791

12. Nicholas Romayne, M.D., 1785-1787
Professor of the Practice of Medicine, 1785-87 (resigned)
b. NYC, 1756
Edinburgh M.D., 1780
d. NYC, 1817

13. William Hammersley, M.D., 1792-1813
Professor of Institutions of Medicine, 1792-95
Professof Theory and Practice of medicine, 1795-1808
Professor Practice of medicine, 1808-13 (retired)

14. William P. Smith, M.D., 1792-95
Professor of Materia Medica, 1792-95 (died)

15. Samuel Nicoll, M.D., 1792-94
Professor of Medical Chemistry, 1792-94 (resigned)

16. Wright Post, M.D., 1792-1813
Professor of Surgery, 1792-93
Professor of Anatomy, 1793-1813 (retired)
b. N. Hempstead, LI, NY, 1766
Medical training in England
professor and president of Physicians and Surgeons, 1813-26
d. NYC, 1828
Source: DAB

17. John B. Rogers, M.D., 1792-1808
Professor of Midwifery, 1792-1808

18. Samuel Latham Mitchill, 1792-1801
Professor of Natural History and Chemistry
1792-1801 (resigned)
Succeeded by Strigham
b. Long Island, NY 1764
Medical studies at Edinburgh
Physician
Quaker -> Presbyterian
Jeffersonian Republican
NY Assembly in 1790s;US Congress 1801-1803; 1809-1813
US Senate 1808-1813
Well-known popularizer of science
d. NYC 1831
Source: Courtney R. Hall, A Scientist in the Early Republic: Samuel L. Mitchill 1939)

19. Richard Bailey, M.D., 1793-1811
Professor of Surgery, 1793-1811 (died)

20. David Hosack, M.D., 1795-1811
Professor of Materia Medica, 1795-1811 (resigned)
b. NYC, 1769
AB Princeton 1789
Purchased 20 acres in rural Manhattan for a botanical garden;
Sold to NY State and given to Columbia in 1814 -- later an immense source of revenue

21. James Stringham, 1802-1810
Professor of Chemistry
1802-1810 (transferred)
Professor of Medicine, 1810-13 (resigned)
Succeeded Mitchill; succeed by Griscom
b. 1775
d. 1817
Source: CC Trustees Minutes

22. Walter Buchanan, M.D., 1808-1813
Professor of Midwifery, 1808-13 (retired)

23. Robert Adrain, 1810-1825
Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy
1810-1825 (resigned)
Succeeded by Anderson
b. Ireland, 1775
No formal collegiate training
To US in 1790s after Irish revolutionary activities
"The most outstanding mathematician in America in his time"
Professor at Rutgers before CC; at UPenn after CC; fired in 1834
1834-1843, taught at Columbia Grammar School
d. NYC, 1843
Source: D.A.B.

24. John Griscom, 1813-1820
Professor of Chemistry, 1813-20 (resigned)
b. New jersey, 1774
Self-taught;
Schoolmaster before CC; and afterward in NY High School for Boys Science popularizer; social reformer
d. NYC, 1852
Source: D.A.B.

25. James Renwick, 1820-1853
Professor of Chemistry and Experimental Philosophy
1820-1853 (retired; first professor emeritus)
Succeeded Griscom; succeeded by McCulloch
b. England, raised in NYC
Columbia College 1807
Secretary to Washington Irving and in business with father-in-law
Episcopalian
Married into Brevoort and Irving families
Three sons to CC; James Jr.(1836)a prominent NYC architect
Family resided #2 College
Frequent government adviser on public projects, canals
Author of books on mechanics, geology and biography of DeWitt Clinton
d. NYC, 1863
Source: D.A.B.; J.F.Finch, Early Columbia Engineers (1929)

26. Henry James Anderson, M.D., 1825-1843
Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy
1825-1843 (resigned)
Succeeded Adrain; succeeded by Hackley
b. NYC, 1799
Columbia College 1818
Trained in medicine; practicing physician pre-CC
Married to daughter of part-time CC Italian professor Lorenzo Da Ponte
Jacksonian Democrat in 1830s
Converted to Catholicism in 1849 (while in Italy)
CC Trustee 1851-1875
d. NYC, 1875
Source: Allan Nevins, ed., Diary of George Templeton Strong (1952) 

27. Charles William Hackley, 1845-1857
Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy
1845-1857 (resigned under Trustee pressure)
Succeeded Anderson; succeeded by William G. Peck
b. Upstate NY, 1809
Graduate of West Point Military Academy (1829)
Episcopal minister, 1839-1845; rector of St. Peter's, NYC
Resided at #3 College
Editor of elementary mathematics texts for Harper & Brothers
d. 1861
Source:  Columbia University Quarterly (October 1904)

28. Richard S. McCulloch, 1854-1863
Professor of Chemistry and Physics
1854-57; 1857-63 as Professor of Physics (resigned)
Left to join the Confederate cause; rose to brigadier-general
Name expunged from CC faculty list October 1863
Succeeded Renwick; beat Wolcott Gibbs out; succeeded by Rood
b.Baltimore, 1818
Princeton 1836
Professor at Jefferson College and Princeton, 1849-1854
Post Civil War -- taught at Washington & Lee College and LSU
d. 1889
Source: Milton Halsey Thomas, The Gibbs Affair (CU: MA Thesis, 1942);
Thomas, "Professor McCulloch of Princeton, Columbia and Points South,"
Princeton University Library Chronicle (1947)

Last Updated:  12/2/98
Send additions, corrections and comments to ram31@columbia.edu.