Merrill Edwards Gates

Merrill Edwards Gates (April 6, 1848 – August 11, 1922) was the ninth President of Rutgers College (now Rutgers University) serving from 1882 to 1890, and the sixth President of Amherst College, serving from 1890 to 1899.

Biography He was born at Warsaw, New York on April 6, 1848, to Seth Merrill Gates. He was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society in 1886.

During his tenure as President of Rutgers College, which began in 1882, Gates built the college's first dormitory, Winants Hall (completed in 1890) named for Garrett E. Winants, and New Jersey Hall (funded by the state), which was used for instruction in chemistry and biology (now home of the economics department). Under the provisions of the Hatch Act, in 1887, Rutgers established the Agricultural Experiment Station, and under the Morrill Act of 1890, increase funding for the scientific school.

After his tenure at Amherst, Gates was appointed to be chairman of the Board of Indian Commissioners, and later named secretary of the board where he served from 1899 to 1912. He remained in Washington, DC presenting lectures and serving literary and philanthropic societies, and preaching in the Congregational Church.

Selected works Land and Law as Agents in Educating the Indians (1885) Sidney Lanier, Poet and Artist (1887) International Arbitration (1897) The Highest Use of Wealth (1901) Men of Mark in America (1905-6)