Samuel Doak and
Hezekiah Balch sought the same goals through their separate colleges. They wanted to educate
settlers of the American frontier so that they would become better
Presbyterians, and therefore, in their thinking, better
citizens. In 1806, emancipated slave
John Gloucester became the first African-American student to study at Greeneville College. He was the first African-American educated by a college in Tennessee and later helped found the First African Presbyterian Church in 1807, in Philadelphia. Samuel Doak left Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) and founded Tusculum Academy, on the present campus of Tusculum University, in 1818 with his son, Samuel Witherspoon Doak.
Origin of name S.W. Doak was named after Princeton University's then-president
Dr. John Witherspoon, a signer of the
United States Declaration of Independence and Tusculum Academy was named after Witherspoon's estate at the College of New Jersey (Princeton). The original
Tusculum was a city near
Rome, Italy, and home to
Roman scholar and philosopher
Cicero. It was he who, along with others, identified the civic virtues that form the basis of civic
republican tradition, which emphasizes citizens working together to form good
societies that in turn foster individuals of good
character.
Presidents •
Greeneville College (1794–1868) •
Hezekiah Balch, 1794–1810 • Charles Coffin, 1810–27 • Henry Hoss 1828–36 • Alfred Hoss 1836–38 • James McLin, 1838–40 • Samuel Matthews 1843–45 • Charles Van Vlech 1845–46 • John Fleming 1846–47 • William B. Rankin, 1854–58 • John Lampson 1859–60 •
Tusculum Academy (1818–68) •
Samuel Doak, 1818–29 • Samuel Witherspoon Doak, 1829–44 •
Tusculum College (1844–68) • Samuel Witherspoon Doak, 1844–64 • William Stephenson Doak, 1865–68 •
Greeneville and Tusculum College (G&T) (1868–1908) • William Stephenson Doak, (1868–82) • Alexander M. Doak, (acting) 1882–83 • Jeremiah Moore, 1883–1901 • Samuel A. Coile, 1901–07 •
Washington and Tusculum College (W&T) (1908–1912) • Charles O. Gray, 1907–12 •
Tusculum College (1912–2018) • Charles O. Gray, 1912–31 • Charles A. Anderson, 1931–42 • John McSween, 1942–44 • Jere A. Moore, (acting) 1944–46 • George K. Davies, 1946–50 • Leslie K. Patton, (acting) 1950–51 • Raymond C. Rankin, 1951–65 • Douglas C. Trout, 1965–68 • Charles J. Ping, (acting) 1968–69 • Andrew N. Cothran, 1969–72 • Thomas G. Voss, 1972–78 • Earl R. Mezoff, 1978–88 • Robert E. Knott, 1989–2000 • Thomas J. Garland, (interim) 2000 • Dolphus E. Henry III, 2000–07 • Russell L. Nichols, (interim) August 2007–April 2009 •
Nancy B. Moody, April 2009 – 2017 •
James L. Hurley, 2017–2019 •
Tusculum University (2018–present) •
James L. Hurley, 2017–2019 • Greg Nelson, (acting) 2019–2020 • Scott Hummel, 2020–present ==Academics==