The first requisite of success in any institution is a staff of eminent teachers, each of whom gives freely the best of which he is capable.  The best varies with the individual; one may be an admirable lecturer or teacher; another a profound thinker; a third a keen investigator; another a skilful experimenter; the next, a man of great acquisitions; one may excel by his industry, another by his enthusiasm, another by his learning, another by his genius; but every member of a faculty should be distinguished by some uncommon attainments and by some special aptitudes, while the faculty as a whole should be united and cooperative.  Each professor, according to his subject and his talents, should have his own best mode of working, adjusted to and controlled by the exigencies of the institution with which he is associated.

The original professors, who were present when instructions began in October, 1876, were these:  as the head and guide of the mathematical studies, Professor Sylvester, of Cambridge, Woolwich and London, one of the foremost of European mathematicians; as the leader of classical studies, Professor Gildersleeve, then of the University of Virginia; as director of the Chemical Laboratory and of instruction in chemistry, Professor Remsen, then of Williams College; to organize the work in Biology (a department then scarcely known in American institutions, but here regarded as of great importance with reference to the future school of medicine), Professor Martin, then of Cambridge (Eng.), a pupil of Professor Michael Foster and of Professor Huxley; as chief in the department of Physics, Professor Rowland, then holding a subordinate position in the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, whose ability in this department had been shown by the contributions he had made to scientific journals; and as collegiate professor, or guide to the undergraduate students, Professor Charles D. Morris, once an Oxford fellow, and then of the University of the City of New York.

The names of the professors in the Faculty of Philosophy, from 1876 to 1890, are as follows, arranged in the order of their appointment: 

1876      BASIL L. GILDERSLEEVE, LL.  D   Greek.
1876      J.J.  SYLVESTER, LL.  D          Mathematics.
1876      IRA KEMSEN, Ph.  D              Chemistry.
1876      HENRY A. ROWLAND, Ph.  D        Physics.
1876      H. NEWELL MARTIN, Sc.  D        Biology.
1876      CHARLES D. MORRIS, A. M        Classics, (Collegiate).
1883      PAUL HAUPT, Ph.  D              Semitic Languages.
1884      G. STANLEY HALL, LL.  D         Psychology.
1884      WILLIAM H. WELCH, M. D         Pathology.
1884      SIMON NEWCOMB, LL.  D           Mathematics and Astronomy.
1886      JOHN H. WRIGHT, A.M            Classical Philology.
1889      EDWARD H. GRIFFIN, LL.D        History of Philosophy.
1891      HERBERT B. ADAMS, Ph.D         Amer. and Inst.  History.
1891      WILLIAM K. BROOKS, Ph.D        Animal Morphology.

The persons below named have been appointed associate professors,—­and their names are arranged in the order of their appointment: