William Edward Huntington, American minister, educator, and university president, was born at Hillsboro, Ill., on July 30, 1844. He was brought up on a farm, for which, in retrospect, he was grateful. The Civil War broke out when he was seventeen, and he enlisted and served until its close. He then enrolled in the University of Wisconsin.

Upon graduating, Huntington entered Boston University School of Theology to prepare for the Methodist ministry. After graduating with the degree of S.T.B., he spent a year in advance study at the Universities of Leipzig and Goetthegen, in Germany. He then spent eight years in the pastorate. In 1882, at thirty-eight years of age, Huntington was appointed dean of the Boston University College of Liberal Arts, and he served until 1903. In 1904, he was elected president of Boston University. Upon his retirement, Huntington was appointed dean of the graduate school, where he served six years more. After his final retirement, he reflected upon his early self- dedication to the Methodist ministry, and said: “I look back upon my 35 years of service in Boston University as truly a time of ministering as were the years in the pastorate.”