Mark Hopkins

author

Mark Hopkins

1802–1887

A longtime Williams College president and influential New England educator, he became famous for pairing plainspoken teaching with moral seriousness. His name is still tied to the classic image of a professor and student learning together through close conversation.

2 Audiobooks

The Connexion Between Taste and Morals: Two lectures

The Connexion Between Taste and Morals: Two lectures

by Mark Hopkins

A Sermon, Delivered Before His Excellency Edward Everett, Governor, His Honor George Hull, Lieutenant Governor, the Honorable Council, and the Legislature of Massachusetts, on the Anniversary Election, January 2, 1839

A Sermon, Delivered Before His Excellency Edward Everett, Governor, His Honor George Hull, Lieutenant Governor, the Honorable Council, and the Legislature of Massachusetts, on the Anniversary Election, January 2, 1839

by Mark Hopkins

About the author

Born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, on February 4, 1802, he became one of the best-known American college presidents of the 19th century. After graduating from Williams College, he studied medicine and practiced briefly before turning to teaching, theology, and college leadership.

He led Williams College from 1836 to 1872, shaping the school for more than three decades. He was widely admired as a teacher as well as an administrator, and later served as a Congregationalist theologian and writer. A famous saying associated with him describes the ideal college as simply "Mark Hopkins on one end of a log and a student on the other," capturing his reputation for direct, personal teaching.

He died in Williamstown, Massachusetts, on June 17, 1887. Remembered for intellectual clarity, religious conviction, and the power of close mentorship, he remains an important figure in the history of American higher education.