About James Anderson

Dean, College of Arts & Sciences, 1910-1930
Dean of the Graduate School, 1930-1938

James Nesbitt Anderson was born on October 21, 1864 in Lauren, South Carolina. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Virgina and his Ph.D. in Latin, Greek, and Sanscrit at Johns Hopkins University in 1894. He also studied at the Universities of Berlin, Heidelberg, and Paris, after which he held teaching positions at the University of Oklahoma and Vanderbilt University.

Anderson joined the newly reorganized University of Florida in 1905, and, in 1909, when UF was divided into four separate colleges, Anderson was named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. In addition to his responsibilities as dean, he taught four classes in Latin and three in Greek. In 1930 he became the first dean of the Graduate School and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1938. The former Language Hall, which housed Anderson and the College of Arts and Sciences, was later renamed Anderson Hall in his honor.