John James Tigert IV (February 11, 1882 – January 21, 1965) was an American university president, university professor and administrator, college sports coach and the U.S. Commissioner of Education. Tigert was a native of Tennessee and the son and grandson of Methodist bishops. After receiving his bachelor's degree, he earned his master's degree as a Rhodes Scholar.

After completing his education, Tigert taught at Central College; served as the president of Kentucky Wesleyan College; and worked as a professor, sports coach and administrator at the University of Kentucky.

Tigert gained his greatest national prominence as the U.S. Commissioner of Education, from 1921 to 1928, and as the third president of the University of Florida, from 1928 to 1947. He is remembered as a forceful advocate for American public education, intercollegiate sports, and university curriculum reform.

Early life and education

Tigert was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1882,University of Florida, Past Presidents, John J. Tigert (1928–1947) . Retrieved February 14, 2010. the third son of a Methodist Episcopal minister, John James Tigert III, and his wife, Amelia McTyeire Tigert, the daughter of Methodist Bishop and Vanderbilt University co-founder Holland N. McTyeire.E. Polk Johnson, A History of Kentucky and Kentuckians: The Leaders and Representative Men in Commerce, Industry and Modern Activities, Vol. II, Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, pp. 827–830 (1912). Retrieved October 24, 2012. Tigert's father later became a professor and a Methodist bishop. See also "Bishop J.J. Tigert dead: Head of the Methodist Episcopal Church South dies in Indian Territory", The New York Times, p. 9 (November 22, 1906). Tigert was also the grandson of Methodist bishop Holland McTyeire, the founder of Vanderbilt University. Samuel Proctor & Wright Langley, Gator History: A Pictorial History of the University of Florida, South Star Publishing, Gainesville, Florida, p. 34 (1987). Tigert received his primary education in the public schools of Kansas City, Missouri, and Nashville, and earned his high school diploma, with honors, from the Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tennessee.Johnson, A History of Kentucky and Kentuckians, p. 827.

Vanderbilt He was admitted to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity (Tennessee Alpha Chapter) and a standout athlete in baseball, basketball, football and track. His time at Vanderbilt overlaps with Grantland Rice. As a senior, Tigert was honored as an All-Southern halfback for the Vanderbilt Commodores football team. College Football Hall of Fame, [ John Tigert Member Biography]. Retrieved February 14, 2010. In his final game, he scored the first points netted all season against rival Sewanee.

Tigert graduated from Vanderbilt with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1904; he was selected for Phi Beta Kappa, and was chosen as a Rhodes Scholar, the first from the state of Tennessee, along with teammate Bob Blake. While at Oxford University in Oxford, England, he completed his Master of Arts degree at Pembroke College in 1907, and he continued to participate in competitive university sports, including cricket, rowing and tennis.Julian M. Pleasants, Gator Tales: An Oral History of the University of Florida, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, p. 28 (2006).

Educator, administrator, reformer After returning to the United States, Tigert taught at the Methodist-affiliated Central College—now known as Central Methodist University—in Fayette, Missouri,Proctor & Langley, Gator History, p. 34. and, at the age of 27, was appointed president of Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro, Kentucky in 1909. That same year, he married the former Edith Jackson Bristol.Johnson, A History of Kentucky and Kentuckians, p. 830.

University of Kentucky Tigert later received an appointment as a professor of psychology and philosophy at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky, where he did work on psychology in advertising. While there, Tigert also served as the athletic director from 1913 to 1917, the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball coach in 1913, 1916 and 1917,UK Athletics, Men's Basketball, All-Time UK Coaches . Retrieved March 30, 2010. Tigert compiled a record of 17–15 during three seasons as the Kentucky men's basketball coach. the Wildcats women's basketball coach from 1911 to 1915 and again from 1916 to 1917,UK Hoops 2008–09 Women's Basketball Media Guide, The Early Era , University of Kentucky Athletic Department, Lexington, Kentucky, p. 152 (2008). Retrieved March 30, 2010. Tigert's Lady Wildcats posted a 23–4 record in five seasons. and the Wildcats football coach in 1915 and 1916.College Football Data Warehouse, All-Time Coaching Records, John J. Tigert Records by Year . Retrieved February 14, 2010. Tigert compiled a record of 10–2–3 in two seasons as Kentucky's head football coach.

Commissioner of Education President Warren G. Harding appointed Tigert as the U.S. Commissioner of Education in 1921, and he served for seven years during the administrations of Harding and Calvin Coolidge. As commissioner, he was an energetic advocate of education reform and greater educational opportunities for all classes of Americans, and he traveled widely and spoke often to virtually any group interested in education."Education: Tireless Tigert", Time Magazine (February 8, 1926). Retrieved February 14, 2010. In particular, he took an interest in rural education, and advocated innovative ways to impart public education to a wider audience, including the use of radio.Paul Saettler, The Evolution of American Educational Technology, Libraries Unlimited, Denver, Colorado, p. 213 (1990). Retrieved February 14, 2010. During his time in Washington, D.C., he also served a term as the national president of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity.Lee Lamar Robinson, "Head of United States Educators", Kentucky in Washington: A History in Brief of Participation of Kentucky through Kentuckians in Affairs at Washington 1792 to 1928, publisher unknown, p. 44 (1928). Retrieved February 14, 2010.

University of Florida The Florida Board of Control selected Tigert as the third president of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida in 1928. He assumed leadership of the university during an extended period of economic crisis in the state of Florida.Proctor & Langley, Gator History, p. 37. When the Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of 1929, Florida was already suffering from the after-effects of the 1920s land boom and bust, as well the devastating aftermath of two major hurricanes in 1926 and 1928.

The common thread of the nineteen years of Tigert's administration was doing more with less. Faculty salary cuts were common; Tigert himself never drew his full authorized annual salary of $10,000. Among Tigert's many significant reforms, he decentralized the university budget to the level of the individual academic colleges, allowing them to set their own spending priorities.Pleasants, Gator Tales, p. 29. The University Council, composed of the president, the registrar and the college deans, retained final approval authority. Tigert also established the faculty senate, the Institute of Inter-American Affairs and the Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

One of his most influential reforms as president was the founding of the new University College as an academic division within the University of Florida in 1935.Pleasants, Gator Tales, pp. 29–30. University College was first known as General College. The college was modeled on the general education college at the University of Chicago, and administered the freshman and sophomore-year liberal arts education of undergraduates before they were accepted to the university schools or colleges that administered their academic majors. The college's stated purpose was to "stimulate intellectual curiosity" and "encourage independent work", with new liberal arts requirements in biology, English language and literature, the humanities, logic, mathematics, physical sciences and social sciences, and thereby counter the growing trend toward "trade school" education at the university level.University College was disbanded, and its role in administering the liberal arts education of underclassmen was assumed by the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences in 1978. Proctor & Langley, Gator History, p. 58.

As a former university athlete and coach, Tigert took a particular interest in athletics-related policy issues while he was president and was an enthusiastic supporter of the Florida Gators sports program generally, and football in particular.Pleasants, Gator Tales, pp. 31–32. He was responsible for the construction of the university's first and only permanent football stadium, Florida Field, in 1930.Pleasants, Gator Tales, p. 31. He borrowed $10,000 to begin construction of the stadium, and then raised $118,000 to pay the construction costs of the 22,800-seat facility. Tigert also hired Blake R. Van Leer as Dean to expand the engineering program and manage all applications for federal funding. Van Leer also chaired the advanced planning committee setup by Tigert. Tigert was also instrumental in the organization of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), which the University of Florida joined as one of the thirteen founding institutions in December 1932. Tigert subsequently served two terms as SEC president (1934–1936 and 1945–1947). As a key leader within the SEC, he worked to impose a uniform set of rules and standards for academic eligibility for SEC athletes. Appalled by the under-the-table payments to amateur college athletes that were prevalent at the time, he advocated the grant of scholarships to athletes which would become the grant-in-aid of other university athletic programs and as mandated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the years to follow.Fred Russell, "Columnary Craft: Pioneer of Open Aid ", NCAA News, p. 2 (December 15, 1970). Retrieved February 14, 2010.

Like his predecessor, Albert A. Murphree, Tigert was elected president of the National Association of State Universities, serving from 1939 to 1940.University of Kentucky Alumni Association, Hall of Distinguished Alumni, John James Tigert . Retrieved February 14, 2010.

Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, students began to withdraw from the university in large numbers to enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces.Proctor & Langley, Gator History, p. 38. The financial impact on the university had the potential to be devastating, but Tigert navigated the war years by making the university campus, dormitories and class rooms available for the training of U.S. Army Air Force flight crews. Veterans began to return to school with support from the GI Bill, and by the fall term of 1946, over seventy percent of the University of Florida's 7,000 students were returning World War II veterans.Pleasants, Gator Tales, p. 32. Contributing to the shortage of facility space was the influx of new female students when the Florida Legislature reinstituted co-education in 1947.Proctor & Langley, Gator History, p. 39. The university suddenly had more students than its available housing and classroom space could serve.Proctor & Langley, Gator History, pp. 38–39.

Tigert resigned as university president in 1947, worked as an educational consultant to the government of India as a member of its University Education Commission, and taught philosophy at the University of Miami until 1959.

Legacy