5. Edward Kidder Graham, 1876-1918

“By asserting that students were able and good, he helped make them able and good--inspired them to be better than they were. The men associated with him felt, not that they were working for him, but that he was giving to them a medium and opportunity for doing in the biggest way the thing they wanted to do. Around him men felt free.”

—Professor Albert Coates

Photograph of Graham and his gravestone Edward Kidder Graham was born in Charlotte in 1876, and graduated from UNC with a degree in philosophy in 1894. As a student, he participated in tennis, baseball, and debate, and served as editor of the student newspaper. He went on to serve as a librarian and then an English instructor at UNC.

Graham received his M.A. in English from Columbia, then returned to Chapel Hill in 1907 as a full professor of English. He taught the first course in journalism in the English Department, and went on to become the head of the department and then the dean of the College of Liberal Arts. In 1913, President Francis Venable took a year's leave for health reasons, and Graham took his place as the university's ninth president.

Graham was popular with both students and faculty. While he served his term as president, he added a dining hall, Swain Hall, a power plant, Phillips Hall, and a new athletic field, and convinced the state to fund the school. Graham also added more academic departments to the university, such as rural education, rural social economics, dramatic arts and business administration. During World War I, Graham wanted to serve in the armed forces, but U.S. President Woodrow Wilson convinced him that he was needed at the university.

Graham died in 1918 of influenza, and in 1931, the student union, Graham Memorial Building , was erected in his memory.