Julius Seelye Bixler

Julius Seelye Bixler (April 4, 1894 – March 28, 1985) was the 16th President of Colby College, Maine, United States, from 1942–1960.

Early life Born Julius Seelye Bixler in New London, CT, to James William Bixler and Elizabeth J. Seelye Bixler. His father was a clergyman who was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives and Senate. His maternal grandfather was Julius Hawley Seelye, president of Amherst College from 1876–90, and his grand-uncle was Laurenus Clark Seelye, the first president of Smith College.

J. Seelye Bixler attended the Classical High in New London, where he played football. He matriculated at Amherst College with the class of 1916, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, the senior honorary society "Scarab," won first prize in the commencement speaking contest, was song leader for his class. He also was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity.

After his graduation from Amherst in 1916, he became an instructor of Latin and English at The American College in Madurai, India, for a year, before returning to the States to attend Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. During World War I, he served in the army until December 1918. He soon returned to Amherst College for graduate study in the spring of 1919, and the following school year served as Director of Religious Activities, while completing the requirements for an MA, which he received from Amherst in 1920.

Personal life In September 1917 he married Mary Harrison Thayer, Smith College class of 1917, the daughter of Hiram Harrison Thayer and Harriet A (Carpenter), of Westfield. They had four daughters.

Bixler died of pneumonia at the age of 90 at his daughter's home in Weston, MA.

Publications