Cyrus Northrop

Cyrus Northrop
President of the University of Minnesota
In office 1884–1911
Preceded by	William Watts Folwell
Succeeded by	George Edgar Vincent
Personal details
Born	September 30, 1834 Ridgefield, Connecticut
Died	April 3, 1922 (aged 88) Minneapolis, Minnesota

Cyrus Northrop (September 30, 1834 – April 3, 1922) was an American university president.

He was born in Ridgefield, Connecticut.^[1] He graduated from Yale University in 1857 where he was a member of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity and of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity^[2] Northrop graduated from the Yale Law School in 1859. Two years later he was appointed clerk of the Connecticut House of Representatives and in 1862 clerk of the Connecticut State Senate. He was Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature at Yale from 1863 to 1884, before being hired as the president of the University of Minnesota, a post he held from 1884 to 1911.

During Northrop's presidency, the University came to rank as one of the most prestigious of the state universities. Northrop published Addresses, Educational and Patriotic (1910). He encouraged poet Arthur Upson to revise the song, "Hail! Minnesota."

For his leadership and vision, the Minnesota Geological Survey honored Dr. Northrop by naming a mountain after him: Mount Northrop is located in Lake County, in the range of the Sawtooth Mountains.^[3] He is also the namesake of the city of Northrop, Minnesota.^[4]

Notes

1. "Obituary record of graduates of Yale ... - Yale University - Google Books". Books.google.ca. 1911-07-09. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
2. There is some confusion about Northrop's fraternity affiliation which has been published, repeating an error. Cyrus Northrop Sr. was a member and toward the end of his life in 1919 even a national officer of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity, according to their historical records. Alpha Sigma Phi was a sophomore Society at Yale at the time. Delta Kappa Epsilon was a Junior Society at the time. Northrop was a member of both (the 1890 DKE Catalogue) His son, Cyrus Northrop Jr. was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, class of 1893, at the University of Minnesota, per the History of Delta Kappa Epsilon, accessed 12 June 2014.
3. Upham, Warren (2001) Minnesota Place Names, A Geographical Encyclopedia, Third Edition, p147; MHS Press; ISBN 0-87351-396-7
4. Upham, Warren (1920). Minnesota Geographic Names: Their Origin and Historic Significance. Minnesota Historical Society. p. 334.

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gilman, D. C.; Thurston, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "^{article name needed}". New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.