He was born in Homer, New York on Nov. 7, 1832. He was educated at Yale University. At Yale he was a classmate of Daniel Coit Gilman, who would later serve as first president of Johns Hopkins University; the two were members of the Skull and Bones secret society, and would remain close friends. After his graduation from Yale in 1853, he spent three years studying in Europe before returning to the United States as a professor of history and English literature at the University of Michigan.
While serving in Russia, White--a noted bibliophile--made the acquaintance of author Leo Tolstoy. Tolstoy's fascination with Mormonism sparked a similar interest in White, who, like most educated Americans at the time, had previously regarded the Latter-Day Saints as a dangerous, deviant cult. Upon his return to the United States, White took advantage of Cornell's proximity to the original Mormon heartland near Rochester to amass a collection of LDS memorabilia (including many original copies of the Book of Mormon) unmatched by any other institution save the church itself and its university, Brigham Young University.
As an author, White's best known works are A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (1896) and Seven Great Statesmen in the Warfare of Humanity with Unreason (1910).
Andrew Dickson White (November 7, 1832 – November 4, 1918) was an American diplomat, author and educator.
Upon his return to the United States, White took advantage of Cornell's proximity to the original Mormon heartland near Rochester to amass a collection of LDS memorabilia (including many original copies of the Book of Mormon) unmatched by any other institution save the church itself and its university, Brigham Young University.
White, a practicing Episcopalian, maintained that freedom was beneficial to religion and wrote his History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (1896) and Seven Great Statesmen in the Warfare of Humanity with Unreason (1910) to develop his concept of free inquiry.
Andrew Dickson White (November 7 1832 – November 4 1918) was a U.S. diplomat, author, and educator, best known as the co-founder of Cornell University.
White became the school's first president, and his farsighted leadership set the university on the path to becoming an elite educational institution, with particular excellence in agricultural research and engineering.
White died in Ithaca and was interred in Sage Chapel at Cornell.
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