Dr. John G. Hibben's - Life

John Grier Hibben (April 19, 1861 – May 16, 1933) was a Presbyterian minister, a philosopher, and educator. He served as president of Princeton University from 1912–1932, succeeding Woodrow Wilson and implementing many of the reforms started by Wilson. His term as President began after the term of Acting Princeton President Stewart, who served for two years after Wilson's departure.

Hibben was born in Peoria, Illinois, just before the start of the American Civil War, on the day when Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a blockade of the Southern ports. He was the only son of the Rev. Samuel and Elizabeth (Grier) Hibben.

The Hibbens were of Scottish and Scots-Irish descent. His father came from Hillsboro, Ohio, to the pastorate of the Presbyterian church in Peoria, and on the outbreak of the American Civil War volunteered for service as a chaplain in the Union Army. He died in 1862 of one of the fevers prevalent in the camps. After his death, his widow, then a very young woman with a son one year old, was faced with serious financial problems.

Elizabeth Grier was a native of Peoria, from a large family with partial German ancestry. She later was one of the pioneers in the movement for woman's suffrage. Obtaining a position in a nearby ladies' seminary, she gave her son the best education possible. He attended Peoria High School and entered the College of New Jersey (later renamed Princeton University) in the fall of 1878. Later, as president of Princeton, he was instrumental in modifying the entrance requirements for boys of promise from the Western public schools.

As an undergraduate he distinguished himself especially in mathematics and on graduation was awarded a mathematical fellowship. He was valedictorian of his class and its president from 1882 to his death in 1933. After graduation, in 1882, he spent a year in philosophical studies at the University of Berlin. On his return he entered the Princeton Theological Seminary, and while there taught French and German at the Lawrenceville School. He met his future wife, Jenny Davidson, the daughter of John and Adelia (Waite) Davidson. John Davidson was a native of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and an eminent New York lawyer. On November 8, 1887, Hibben and Jenny were married.

He was ordained as a minister of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America by the Carlisle Presbytery on May 19, 1887, having served the Second Presbyterian Church at St. Louis, Missouri for a brief period previously. His next charge was at the Falling Spring Presbyterian Church at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, where he remained four years. A throat ailment forced him to give up preaching and he went to his alma mater as an instructor in logic in 1891. He received a Ph.D. degree in 1893 with a dissertation on "The Relation of Ethics to Jurisprudence," became assistant professor in 1894, and Stuart Professor of Logic in 1907. In 1912 he was elected fourteenth president of Princeton, succeeding Woodrow Wilson, and retired in 1932 on the fiftieth anniversary of his graduation.