author
Lyman Hotchkiss Atwater
1813–1883
A 19th-century Presbyterian thinker and educator, he spent decades shaping students at Princeton while also writing on philosophy, theology, and public questions. His career joined the worlds of ministry, teaching, and vigorous debate.
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About the author
Born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1813, he entered Yale at a young age and later studied theology there before beginning his career in education and ministry. After early teaching work in Baltimore, he served for many years as pastor of the Congregational church in Fairfield, Connecticut.
In 1854 he moved to Princeton, where he became a professor of mental and moral philosophy at the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University. He also lectured at Princeton Theological Seminary and was known as a wide-ranging scholar who wrote and argued on philosophy, religion, education, economics, and public affairs.
He died in Princeton in 1883, leaving behind a reputation as a learned and energetic teacher. Accounts of his life consistently describe him as both a serious academic and an active churchman, with a strong presence in the intellectual life of his time.