John James Tigert IV (February 11, 1882 – January 21, 1965) was an American university president, university professor and administrator, college sports coach and the U.S. Commissioner of Education. Tigert was a native of Tennessee and the son and grandson of Methodist bishops. After receiving his bachelor's degree, he earned his master's degree as a Rhodes Scholar.
After completing his education, Tigert taught at Central College; served as the president of Kentucky Wesleyan College; and worked as a professor, sports coach and administrator at the University of Kentucky.
Tigert gained his greatest national prominence as the U.S. Commissioner of Education from 1921 to 1928, and the third president of the University of Florida, from 1928 to 1947. He is remembered as a forceful advocate for American public education, intercollegiate sports and university curriculum reform.
Early life and education
Tigert was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1882, the third son of a Methodist Episcopal minister, John James Tigert III, and his wife, Amelia McTyeire Tigert, the daughter of Methodist Bishop and Vanderbilt University co-founder Holland N. McTyeire. Tigert received his primary education in the public schools of Kansas City, Missouri, and Nashville, and earned his high school diploma, with honors, from the Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tennessee.
Vanderbilt
He was admitted to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity (Tennessee Alpha Chapter) and a standout athlete in baseball, basketball, football and track. His time at Vanderbilt overlaps with Grantland Rice. As a senior, Tigert was honored as an All-Southern halfback for the Vanderbilt Commodores football team. In his final game, he scored the first points netted all season against rival Sewanee.
Tigert graduated from Vanderbilt with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1904; he was selected for Phi Beta Kappa, and was chosen as a Rhodes Scholar, the first from the state of Tennessee, along with teammate Bob Blake. While at Oxford University in Oxford, England, he completed his Master of Arts degree at Pembroke College in 1907, and he continued to participate in competitive university sports, including cricket, rowing and tennis.
Educator, administrator, reformer
After returning to the United States, Tigert taught at the Methodist-affiliated Central College—now known as Central Methodist University—in Fayette, Missouri, and, at the age of 27, was appointed president of Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro, Kentucky in 1909. That same year, he married the former Edith Jackson Bristol.
University of Kentucky
Tigert later received an appointment as a professor of psychology and philosophy at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky, where he did work on psychology in advertising. While there, Tigert also served as the athletic director from 1913 to 1917, the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball coach in 1913, 1916 and 1917, the Wildcats women's basketball coach from 1911 to 1915 and again from 1916 to 1917, and the Wildcats football coach in 1915 and 1916.
Commissioner of Education
President Warren G. Harding appointed Tigert as the U.S. Commissioner of Education in 1921, and he served for seven years during the administrations of Harding and Calvin Coolidge. As commissioner, he was an energetic advocate of education reform and greater educational opportunities for all classes of Americans, and he traveled widely and spoke often to virtually any group interested in education. In particular, he took an interest in rural education, and advocated innovative ways to impart public education to a wider audience, including the use of radio. During his time in Washington, D.C., he also served a term as the national president of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity.
University of Florida
The Florida Board of Control selected Tigert as the third president of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida in 1928. He assumed leadership of the university during an extended period of economic crisis in the state of Florida. When the Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of 1929, Florida was already suffering from the after-effects of the 1920s land boom and bust, as well the devastating aftermath of two major hurricanes in 1926 and 1928.