Andrew Sledd

Andrew Sledd
Sledd, c. 1933
Born	Andrew Warren Sledd (1870-11-07)November 7, 1870 Lynchburg, Virginia, U.S.
Died	March 16, 1939(1939-03-16) (aged 68) Decatur, Georgia, U.S.
Resting place	Decatur Cemetery
Alma mater	Randolph–Macon College Harvard University Yale University
Occupations	Professor of Greek at Southern University Last President of University of Florida at Lake City 1st President of the University of Florida
Employer(s)	University of Florida Birmingham–Southern College Emory University
Known for	New Testament scholarship Advocacy for educational, social and ecclesiastical reform within the Methodist Episcopal Church
Spouse	Annie Florence "Foncie" Candler[1]

Andrew Warren Sledd (November 7, 1870 – March 16, 1939) was an American theologian, university professor and university president. A native of Virginia, he was the son of a prominent Methodist minister, and was himself ordained as a minister after earning his bachelor's and master's degrees. He later earned a second master's degree and his doctorate.

After teaching for several years, Sledd was chosen to be the last president of the University of Florida at Lake City, from 1904 to 1905, and the first president of the modern University of Florida (first known as the "University of the State of Florida"), from 1905 to 1909. He was also president of Southern University from 1910 to 1914, and later became a professor and an influential biblical scholar at Emory University's Candler School of Theology from 1914 to 1939.

Sledd first received national recognition after he wrote a 1902 magazine article advocating better legal and social treatment of African-Americans, some of whom faced lynching by white mobs. He is also prominently remembered for his role in founding the modern University of Florida, his scholarly analysis of biblical texts as literature, his call for an end to racial violence, and his influence on a generation of Methodist seminary students, scholars and ministers.