William H.S. Demarest

The only alumnus to become president of Rutgers College (1906–24), William H. S. Demarest had ties to the university dating back to 1782, when his great-great-grandfather was a trustee. Demarest was, according to the late Rutgers historian Richard P. McCormick RC'38, GSNB'40, "the personification of old Rutgers." As an undergraduate, he was senior editor of the Rutgers Targum. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Demarest graduated with high honors. He taught at Rutgers Preparatory School from 1883–86 and, in 1888, graduated from New Brunswick Theological Seminary. A minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, he served as a pastor from 1888–1901, when he became a professor at the seminary. Demarest became a Rutgers College trustee in 1899 and was secretary of the board from 1904–06. He was acting president of the college for one year prior to being elected president in February 1906. In 1924, he published A History of Rutgers College, the first detailed history of the institution. That same year, he resigned his Rutgers post and became president of New Brunswick Theological Seminary.