author
A. Lawrence (Abbott Lawrence) Lowell
1856–1943
A forceful and influential figure in American higher education, he led Harvard University for nearly a quarter century and pushed through major academic and administrative changes. His life also reflects the ambitions and contradictions of the old Boston elite in the early 20th century.
2 Audiobooks
Biography of Percival Lowell
by A. Lawrence (Abbott Lawrence) Lowell
The Government of England (Vol. I)
by A. Lawrence (Abbott Lawrence) Lowell
About the author
Born in Boston in 1856, Abbott Lawrence Lowell came from the prominent Lowell family and was educated at Harvard College and Harvard Law School. He practiced law before turning to teaching, eventually becoming a professor of government and a widely read writer on politics and public institutions.
Lowell is best known as president of Harvard University from 1909 to 1933. During those years he expanded the university, strengthened academic organization, and helped shape the modern residential House system for undergraduates. He was a major public voice in education and civic affairs, and his books on government gave him a reputation well beyond Harvard.
His legacy is substantial but also controversial. Alongside his achievements as an educator and administrator, Lowell has been criticized for exclusionary and discriminatory positions, including policies affecting Jewish students and his opposition to racial integration in university housing. That mix of influence, reform, and serious moral failure makes him an important and complicated figure in American educational history.