Francis Preston Venable

Francis Preston Venable, professor of chemistry and president from 1900 to 1914, began transforming the University of North Carolina from a college to a true university. The first faculty member to hold a Ph.D., he insisted on sound scholarship and the rigorous training of students. As university president, he oversaw a significant expansion of the student body, the faculty, and the physical campus, and he created an administration designed to manage a growing institution.