Alva Woods
{{short description|American minister}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name =Alva Woods
| image = Alva Woods - John Nelson Arnold.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Alva Woods, painted by John Nelson Arnold
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1794|08|13}}
| birth_place = Shoreham, Vermont
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1887|09|06|1794|08|13}}
| death_place = Providence, Rhode Island
| death_cause =
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| known_for =
| education = Phillips Academy
Harvard College
Andover Theological Seminary
| employer =
| occupation =Baptist minister;
University professor and president:
(Brown University, 1826-28; Transylvania University, 1828-31;
University of Alabama, 1831-37)
| alma_mater = Harvard University
| signature = Signature of Alva Woods (1794–1887).png
}}
Alva Woods (1794–1887) was an American minister, university professor and university president. He was interim President of Brown University, 1826–28 and President of Transylvania University, 1828-31. Of most historical significance, he served as the first President of the University of Alabama from 1831 to 1837.
Biography
=Early life=
Alva Woods was born on August 13, 1794, in Shoreham, Vermont.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Ou4UAAAAYAAJ/page/n472/mode/1up |title=The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans |volume=X |editor1-first=Rossiter |editor1-last=Johnson |editor2-first=John Howard |editor2-last=Brown |publisher=The Biographical Society |location=Boston |page= |year=1904 |access-date=2022-06-01 |via=Internet Archive}} He was raised as a Baptist. He studied at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, graduating in 1813.{{cite web|url=https://www.andover.edu/About/NotableAlumni/LongList/Pages/1800s.aspx|title=Phillips Academy – 1800s|accessdate=30 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214101747/http://www.andover.edu/About/NotableAlumni/LongList/Pages/1800s.aspx|archive-date=14 February 2015|url-status=dead}} He graduated from Harvard in 1817 and entered the Andover Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in September 1821. He was ordained in October 1821.
=Career=
Woods became a professor at the new Columbian College in Washington, D.C. In 1824, he became professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Brown, where he was interim President (1826–27). In 1828 he became president of Transylvania University.[https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=W0330 "Woods, Alva"] at Encyclopedia Brunoniana
In 1831 Woods accepted the presidency of the University of Alabama.Alfred L. Brophy, "'The Law of Descent of Thought': Law, History, and Civilization in Antebellum Literary Addresses," Law and Literature 20 (2008): 343, 347-52 (discussing Alva Woods' tenure at the University of Alabama and literary addresses delivered by him and others). He resigned from the University of Alabama in 1837, becoming a prison minister. He died in Providence, Rhode Island, on September 6, 1887.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103008475/obituary-the-rev-alva-woods-dd/ |title=Obituary: The Rev. Alva Woods, D.D. |newspaper=Hartford Courant |page=1 |date=1887-09-07 |access-date=2022-06-01 |via=Newspapers.com}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Transylvania University presidents}}
{{Authority control}}
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Category:People from Shoreham, Vermont
Category:Phillips Academy alumni
Category:Brown University faculty
Category:Presidents of Transylvania University
Category:Presidents of the University of Alabama
Category:Baptist ministers from the United States
Category:Columbian College of Arts and Sciences faculty
Category:Presidents of Brown University
Category:Harvard University alumni