William Bennett Bizzell was born in Texas in 1876. An only child, he was tutored during the elementary grades and gained a lifelong appreciation for great books. During his life he acquired a library of more than 14,000 books, not including his private collection of Bibles, one of the finest in the nation. Bizzell earned degrees from several institutions of higher learning in Texas, Illinois, and at Columbia University. Prior to becoming president of the University of Oklahoma, he served as president of Texas State College for Women (now Texas Woman's University) and Texas A & M College. He married Carrie Wray Sangster in 1900. Vitally interested in science, Bizzell was active in creating the University of Oklahoma Research Institute in 1941, and was a lifetime member of the Oklahoma Academy of Science. Among the many milestones during his administration at the University of Oklahoma some of the best known are: granting of the university’s first doctorate degree, the establishment of the University of Oklahoma Press, and the establishment of the School of Medicine and School of Nursing in Oklahoma City. Dr. Bizzell held the position of president until 1941, when he became President Emeritus and Chairman of the Sociology Department.