Charles William Eliot (20 March1834 _ 22 August1926) was an American educator and President of Harvard University from 1869 to 1909. Originally a chemist at MIT, he was elected to the post because of his liberal views regarding higher education, which he implemented during the forty years he served.
His innovations included higher standards for acceptance, an extensive curriculum, including many electives, and compulsory written examinations, but he also relaxed the strict rules governing student life on campus. Harvard flourished as a result, and became one of the leading universities in America.
Eliot was an administrative reformer, reorganizing the university's faculty into schools and departments and replacing recitations with lectures and seminars.
Eliot was a key figure in the creation of standardized admissions examinations, as a founding member of the College Entrance Examining Board.
Eliot's son, CharlesEliot (November 1, 1859-March 25, 1897) was an important landscape architect, responsible for the public park system in Boston.
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