Philip Milledoler Brett
{{Short description|American academic administrator (1871–1960)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2013}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = Brett-philip rutgers.jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth-date|February 17, 1871}}
| birth_place = Newark, New Jersey
| death_date = {{death date and age|1960|7|2|1871|2|17}}
| death_place = Manhattan, New York City
| order1 = 13th
| office1 = President of Rutgers University
| term_start1 = 1930
| term_end1 = 1931
| predecessor1 = John Martin Thomas
| successor1 = Robert Clarkson Clothier
| spouse = Abigail Strong
| relatives = Francis Rombouts, ancestor
Philip Milledoler, second-great-grandfather
| children = 2
}}
Philip Milledoler Brett, Sr. (February 17, 1871 – July 2, 1960) was the thirteenth President of Rutgers University, serving in an acting capacity from 1930 to 1931.
Biography
He was born in Newark, New Jersey, and was the great-great-grandson of Philip Milledoler. While attending Rutgers, he was the captain of the football team that played Princeton University in 1892 in which he was apocryphally credited with saying: "I'd die to win this game." He graduated with a baccalaureate degree from Rutgers College in 1892, and then received a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from the New York Law School and a degree from the New Brunswick Theological Seminary.
He married and had two children: Philip Milledoler Brett, Jr. and Margaret Brett Tenney.{{cite news |title=Elizabeth M. Weld Engaged to Marry. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1935/06/14/archives/elizabeth-m-weld-engaged-to-marry-bryn-mawr-graduate-will-be-wed-to.html |quote=Bryn Mawr Graduate Will Be Wed to Philip M. Brett Jr. Both of Noted Ancestry. She made debut in 1933. Fiance, an Alumnus of Rutgers, Is Kin of Francis Rombouts, New York City Mayor in 1679. |work=New York Times |date=June 14, 1935 |access-date=July 25, 2008 }}
He received an honorary degree from Rutgers University in 1916. At the time of his selection as acting president, Brett was made a partner in the Manhattan law firm of Nevius, Brett and Kellogg in 1898.
During the Great Depression, the university was in disagreement with the newly established State Board of Regents, and morale was low among the faculty. After eighteen months, morale was restored and despite the requests of faculty for him to accept a full appointment as president, Brett declined. He continued his service as a Trustee of the university for over fifty years.
He retired from law in 1948, and died on July 2, 1960, at his home in Manhattan.{{cite news |title=Philip Brett, Lawyer, 89, Dies. Acting Head of Rutgers, 1930-1932. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/07/03/archives/philip-brett-lawyer-89-dies-acting-head-of-rutgers-193032.html |quote=Dr. Philip Milledoler Brett, a lawyer and former acting president of Rutgers University, died yesterday in his home, 901 Lexington Avenue, at the age of 89. |work=New York Times |date=July 3, 1960 |access-date=July 25, 2008 }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://alumni.rutgers.edu/awards-recognition/hall-of-distinguished-alumni/philip-milledoler-brett/ Rutgers biography]
- [http://jcgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,740675,00.html Time magazine; 10 November 1930]
{{Rutgers presidents}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brett, Philip Milledoler}}
Category:Rutgers Scarlet Knights football players
Category:Presidents of Rutgers University
Category:New York Law School alumni
Category:Players of American football from Newark, New Jersey