Joseph Dupuy Eggleston

From 1886 until 1889, Eggleston served as a public school teacher in Virginia, Georgia, and North Carolina.[1] He taught high school in Asheville, North Carolina, until 1893 when he became superintendent of the public schools in Asheville.[1] He continued in this position until 1900.[1] Two years later Eggleston was appointed as the editor and secretary of the Bureau of Information and Publicity of the Southern Education Board at the University of Tennessee.[1] In this position, he was "charged with studying education conditions with the goal of improving social, economic, and cultural circumstances in the South by improving the quality of education throughout the region."[2] In 1903, Eggleston returned to Prince Edward County to serve as the superintendent of schools until he became the first elected State Superintendent of Virginia public schools, a position he held from 1906 until 1912.[2] Eggleston then briefly served as chief of the Division of Rural Education in the U.S. Bureau of Education from January to July 1913 before accepting the presidency of Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute.[2]

In 1913, Eggleston published The Work of the Rural School. The book is an in-depth study (with images) of rural schools in the United States. Eggleston, throughout the book, discusses what rural schools were like at the time, as well as proposed changes needed. Eggleston used many of his own experiences as a guide in writing the book; for example, Chapter XIV is entitled, "The State Superintendent of Public Instruction," and is an in depth study into the position and how it operates (pulling from his own experiences as state superintendent of Virginia).[3]

Eggleston served as president of Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (now known as Virginia Tech) from 1913 until his resignation in 1919.[2] He served as president during World War I when a Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) unit was established at the school, and the school "became a national training center for war."[2] In an attempt to help the war effort, Eggleston "offered the services of the university's extension service to the Federal Food Commission, to promote food production and conservation."[2]

Bagby Hall — built under Eggleston's tutelage

Eggleston served as president of Hampden-Sydney College from 1919 until 1939.[1] During his 20-year term as president of the college, Eggleston brought various innovations to the administration of the school. For example, he hired a full-time business manager, instituted an annual budget, and had a dean deal with student issues.[4] Under Eggleston's leadership the school saw a new "building entirely for the sciences Bagby Hall) . . . . [Eggleston also] persuaded a descendant of one of the founding Trustees to give a building (Morton Hall) in memory of his ancestor - the most generous gift the College ever received."[4] While Eggleston was president of Hampden-Sydney, Virginia Tech invited him to be the commencement speaker in 1939.[5] He retired as president in 1935, staying on four years until a successor was found.[2]