Robert Lee Durham

Robert Lee Durham (May 4, 1870 – January 1, 1949) was an American engineer, educator, and author. He was the founding principal and president of Southern Seminary Junior College in Buena Vista, Virginia.

Early life Durham was born in Shelby, Cleveland County, North Carolina on May 4, 1870.

In 1891 he graduated with a degree in civil engineering from Trinity College of Randolph County, which was later known as Duke University. Concerned that his increasing financial instability would hinder a career in engineering, he studied law at Trinity College.

In 1919 Durham bought a half-interest in a girls' school called Southern Seminary in Buena Vista, Virginia. He became its principal and three years later bought the other half-interest from the co-founder of the school, Edgar Healy Rowe. During his tenure, first as principal and later as president, Durham aimed to strengthen the school's academic program and develop the mental, social, physical, and spiritual lives of students. He broadened the school's curriculum to cover college-level courses, and in 1926 the school started to offer a junior college diploma. Durham expanded the facilities of the school to include a gymnasium, modern classroom infrastructure which was now having chemistry and laboratories, and Chandler Hall with a library and an auditorium.

In 1942 he retired from his position as the president of Southern Seminary and Junior College and his own daughter, Margaret Durham Robey, succeeded him as president of the college.

Durham was a Democrat until he saw Franklin D. Roosevelt supporting the end of Prohibition. This led Durham to switch his support to Republican candidate Herbert Hoover, who would become president of the US in 1929.