Chancellor Henry Barnard 1859-1860
The regents began wooing Henry Barnard in July 1858, and he finally accepted the offer of
the office of chancellor on January 12, 1859. After several delays, he arrived in Madison
in May but was not inaugurated until Commencement Day, July 27, 1859. Barnard was born in
Hartford, Connecticut on January 24, 1811, and graduated from Yale in 1830. He also read
law at Yale and was admitted to the Connecticut bar in 1834 but spent most of his life as
an educator. The regents hoped that Barnard, a nationally regarded figure who had founded
the American Journal of Education, would oversee the restructuring of the entire educational
system of the state, including more emphasis on the normal schools. Due to travels and
illness, Barnard was away from Wisconsin for over half of the time that he was chancellor
and never moved his family to Madison. He sent his resignation to the regents from
Connecticut in June 1860, but they did not accept it until January 1861 when it became clear
that he would not return to Wisconsin. Barnard continued to be involved in educational
issues throughout his life, including becoming the first United States Commissioner of
Education in 1867. He died in Hartford on July 25, 1900.
--------
Henry Barnard, president, 1859-1860: Barnard had a national reputation as ahighly regarded educator but resigned after a short tenure at the universitydue to illness.
