Samuel Wait

Samuel Wait (December 19, 1789 – July 28, 1867) was a Baptist minister and educator. He served as the first principal of Wake Forest University (then called Wake Forest Institute) in North Carolina. He was also the Institute's first president, serving from 1834 to 1845. Wait Chapel, on today's college campus, in Winston-Salem, is named for him.

Early life Samuel Wait was born in 1789 in White Creek, New York, to Joseph Wait and Martha Smith. The family moved to Middletown, Vermont, during Wait's childhood.

In 1851, Wait became president of Oxford Female College, in Ohio, and retired in the role six years later. daughter of Jonathan Merriam and Sarah Conant, with whom he had two known children: Anna Eliza (born 1826) and William Carey (born 1829). William died at around two years of age. in Forestville. He was interred in Wake Forest Cemetery in Wake Forest. His widow was buried beside him upon her death four years later.

Legacy Wait Chapel, on today's Wake Forest University campus, is named for him. It was completed in 1956. His portrait hangs in Reynolda Hall on the campus.