William H. Payne

William Harold Payne (May 12, 1836 – June 18, 1907) was an American educator and translator. As professor of the Science and Art of Teaching at the University of Michigan in 1879, he was the first university professor of pedagogy in the United States. He served as the chancellor of the University of Nashville and the president of Peabody College (both of which later merged with Vanderbilt University) from 1887 to 1901.

Early life William H. Payne was born on May 12, 1836, in Farmington, New York. He was educated in state schools in New York, Much of his education was self-taught. Under his leadership, the faculty went from 12 to 38. He "consistently supported compulsory education, financed and supervised by the state."

Payne translated Emile, or On Education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and The History of Pedagogy by Gabriel Compayré from French into English.

Personal life Payne married Eva S. Fort in October 1856. After she died in 1899, he married Elizabeth Clark in 1901. He had a son, W.R. Payne, and four daughters: Mrs Henry McClelland, Mrs Tillman Jones, Mrs John A. Murkin, and Mrs B.F. Fields.

Death Payne died on June 18, 1907, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.