Francis S. Hoyt

Francis Southack Hoyt (November 5, 1822 – January 21, 1912) was an American educator from the state of Vermont. A minister and the son of a minister, he served as the first President of Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, where he and his wife were also teachers. Hoyt also taught at Ohio Wesleyan University and Baldwin University, and served as editor of several publications.

Early life Francis Hoyt was born in Lyndon, Vermont, on November 5, 1822. He was the son of Lucinda Hoyt (née Freeman) and Benjamin Ray Hoyt (1789–1872). His father was a minister and a founder of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. The younger Hoyt's early education came at Newbury Seminary in Vermont before he attended Wesleyan where he graduated in 1844. He was the school’s third principal and also taught classes along with his wife. In March 1855, he tendered his resignation, but did not leave the school. In 1872, Hoyt was hired as the editor of the Cincinnati based Western Christian Advocate.