Carl Woodward

Carl Woodward helped shape Rutgers’ history through his work as assistant to Rutgers President Robert Clothier and through his extensive writings for and about the College of Agriculture and the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. However, his greatest achievements took place away from the Banks, during his 17 years as president of Rhode Island State College. Under his guidance, the college established a nursing program, a pharmacy college, an engineering experiment station, an extension division, and expanded its graduate program. The campus grew by some 6,000 acres and the annual budget increased by $4.5 million, including a tenfold increase in state appropriations. This phenomenal and well-executed growth enabled the college to attain university status. The University of Rhode Island honored him by establishing the Carl R. Woodward Agricultural Library and by naming its agricultural building Woodward Hall. His colleagues knew him as a man of “quiet good cheer and, back of it, a sturdy integrity of purpose and performance” who made great things happen. He wrote several books, the most noteworthy being Ploughs and Politicks, which significantly influenced the field of agricultural history. Woodward died in 1974 at age 84.