Notes for WINFIELD SCOTT CHAPLIN:

Son of Davis and Susan (Gibbs) Chaplin.
Born: August 22, 1847 in Glenburn, Penobscot County, Maine.
Died: March 12, 1918 in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri.
Cause of Death: Pneumonia.
Occupation: 1891-1907 - Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis.
Married: Winfield Scott Chaplin October 16, 1873 in Orono, Penobscot County, Maine.

Chaplin graduated from West Point in 1870. After completing his military service, he held a number of academic positions in civil and mechanical engineering; including Maine State College, Imperial University in Tokyo, Union College, and Harvard. He served six years dean of the Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard for six years before being named Chancellor of Washington University at age 43. During his tenure, Washington University in St. Louis moved from downtown St. Louis to the 103-acre (0.42 km2) Hilltop Campus (now know as the Danforth Campus) on the western edge of Forest Park. The St. Louis Medical College joined the University as did Missouri Dental College. The University awarded its first Ph.D. during Chaplin's administration. He brought key figures onto the board of directors who would have lasting influence of the University, most notably Samuel Cupples, Adolphus Busch, and Robert S. Brookings. After 16 years at the University, Chaplin moved to the southwest to lead the American Rio Grande Land and Irrigation Company. He later moved to San Antonio, where he served as president of the Academy of Science. Following his years as Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Tokyo, he was awarded the Imperial Order of Meiji in 1882.