In 1900 when noted economist Edward Ross lost his job at Stanford University because Mrs. Leland Stanford didn't like his views on immigrant labor and railroad monopolies, other professors were watching. The incident stuck in the mind of Arthur O. Lovejoy, philosopher at Johns Hopkins. When he and John Dewey organized a meeting in 1915 to form an organization to ensure academic freedom for faculty members, the AAUP was born. "Academic freedom" was a new idea then.
More than eighty years later the AAUP is still addressing the kinds of abuse that spurred Lovejoy and Dewey to organize the Association. Academia has changed a lot since 1915, but there are still people who want to control what professors teach and write. Thanks to the AAUP, academic freedom is recognized as the fundamental principle of our profession. Despite this acceptance, academic freedom remains vulnerable. The attacks are more subtle in some cases, but the response must always be decisive.
The AAUP remains the leading organization primarily dedicated to protecting the academic freedom of professors. Faculty members turn to the AAUP for assistance in the thousands each year. Some of these faculty members are well-known figures with resources and support. Most, however, are ordinary faculty members who need guidance in responding to troublesome or threatening professional attacks.
Through the AAUP, faculty determine the principles of our profession and the procedures by which to protect them. When the AAUP speaks, it is the voice of the profession.
Presidents of the Association
1915-1916 John Dewey (Philosophy), Columbia University
1916-1917 John H. Wigmore (Law), Northwestern University
1917-1918 Frank Thilly (Philosophy), Cornell University
1918-1919 J. M. Coulter (Botany), University of Chicago
1919-1920 A. O. Lovejoy (Philosophy), The Johns Hopkins University
1920-1921 Edward Capps (Classical Philology), Princeton
University
1921 Acting President, Vernon L. Kellogg (Zoology), National
Research Council
1921-1922 E. R. A. Seligman (Political Science), Columbia University
1922-1924 J. V. Denney (English), Ohio State University
1924-1926 A. O. Leuschner (Astronomy), University of California
1926-1928 W. T. Semple (Classics), University of Cincinnati
1928-1930 Henry Crew (Physics), Northwestern University
1930-1932 W. B. Munro (Government), Harvard University
1932-1934 Walter Wheeler Cook (Law), The John Hopkins University
1934-1936 S. A. Mitchell (Astronomy), University of Virginia
1936-1938 A. J. Carlson (Physiology), University of Chicago
1938-1940 Mark H. Ingraham (Mathematics), University of Wisconsin
1940-1942 Frederick S. Deibler (Economics), Northwestern University
1942-1944 W. T. Laprade (History) Duke University
1944-1946 Quincy Wright (International Law), University of Chicago
1946-1948 Edward C. Kirkland (History), Bowdoin College
1948-1950 Ralph H. Lutz (History) Stanford University
1950-1952 Richard H. Shryock (History), The Johns Hopkins University
1952-1954 Fred B. Millett (English Literature) Wesleyan University
1954-1956 William E. Britton (Law), University of Illinois
1956-1958 Helen C. White (English), University of Wisconsin
1958-1960 Bentley Glass (Biology), The Johns Hopkins University
1960-1962 Ralph F. Fuchs (Law), Indiana University
1962-1964 Fritz Machlup (Economics), Princeton University
1964-1966 David Fellman (Political Science), University of Wisconsin
1966-1968 Clark Byse (Law), Harvard University
1968-1970 Ralph S. Brown, Jr. (Law), Yale University
1970-1972 Sanford H. Kadish (Law), University of California, Berkeley
1972-1974 Walter Adams (Economics), Michigan State University
1974-1976 William W. Van Alstyne (Law), Duke University
1976-1978 Peter O. Steiner (Law and Economics), University of
Michigan
1978-1980 Martha Friedman (Library), University of Illinois, Urbana
1980-1981 Henry T. Yost (Biology), Amherst College
1981-1982 Robert A. Gorman (Law), University of Pennsylvania
1982-1984 Victor J. Stone (Law), University of Illinois, Urbana
1984-1986 Paul H. L. Walter (Chemistry), Skidmore College
1986-1988 Julius G. Getman (Law), University of Texas at Austin
1988-1990 Carol Simpson Stern (Performance Studies), Northwestern
University
1990-1992 Barbara Bergmann (Economics), American University
1992-1994 Linda Ray Pratt (English), University of Nebraska
1994-1998 James Perley (Biology), College of Wooster
1998-2000 James Richardson (Judicial Studies), University of Nevada,
Reno
2000-2006 Jane Buck (Psychology), Delaware State University
2006- Cary Nelson (English), University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign
(updated 6/06)