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{{short description|American politician, physician, and eugenicist (1875–1949)}}
{{Infobox university chancellor

| name = Ray Lyman Wilbur
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = Ray Lyman Wilbur family photo.jpg
| caption = Ray Lyman Wilbur
|name = Ray Wilbur
| order = Third President
|image = Ray Lyman Wilbur family photo.jpg
|order = 3rd
| university = [[Stanford University]]
|title = President of [[Stanford University]]
| term_start = January 1, 1916
|term_start = March 4, 1933
| term_end = 1943
|term_end = June 30, 1943
| predecessor = [[John Casper Branner|John C. Branner]]
|predecessor = [[Robert E. Swain]] {{small|(Acting)}}
| successor = [[Donald Tresidder|Donald B. Tresidder]]
|successor = [[Donald Tresidder]]
| university2 =
|term_start1 = January 22, 1916
| term_start2 =
| term_end2 =
|term_end1 = March 5, 1929
|predecessor1 = [[John Casper Branner|John Branner]]
| predecessor2 =
|successor1 = [[Robert E. Swain]] {{small|(Acting)}}
| successor2 =
|office2 = 31st [[United States Secretary of the Interior]]
| birth_date = April 13, 1875
| birth_place = [[Boone County, Iowa]]
|president2 = [[Herbert Hoover]]
|term_start2 = March 5, 1929
| death_date = {{dda|1949|6|26|1875|4|13}}
|term_end2 = March 4, 1933
| death_place = [[Palo Alto, California]]
|predecessor2 = [[Roy Owen West|Roy West]]
| alma_mater = [[Stanford University]]
|successor2 = [[Harold L. Ickes]]
| residence =
|birth_name = Ray Lyman Wilbur
| profession = Medical Doctor
|birth_date = {{birth date|1875|4|13}}
| religion =
|birth_place = [[Boone, Iowa|Boonesboro, Iowa]], U.S.
| salary =
|death_date = {{death date and age|1949|6|26|1875|4|13}}
| spouse = Marguerite May Blake
|death_place = [[Stanford, California]], U.S.
| children =
|restingplace = [[Alta Mesa Memorial Park]]
| signature =
|party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| website =
|spouse = {{marriage|Marguerite Blake|December 5, 1898|December 24, 1946|end=died}}
| footnotes =
|children = 5, including [[Blake Colburn Wilbur|Blake]] and [[Dwight Locke Wilbur|Dwight]]
|alma_mater = [[Stanford University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Master of Arts|MA]])<br>[[University of California, San Francisco]] ([[Doctor of Medicine|MD]])
}}
}}
'''Ray Lyman Wilbur''' (April 13, 1875 – June 26, 1949) was an American politician, physician, and eugenicist.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stanforddaily.com/2019/11/18/eugenics-on-the-farm-ray-lyman-wilbur/ |title=Eugenics on the Farm: Ray Lyman Wilbur |last=Maldonado |first=Ben |date=2019-11-18 |website=stanforddaily.com |publisher=The Stanford Daily Publishing Corporation}}</ref> He was a [[medical doctor]] who served as the third president of [[Stanford University]] and as the 31st [[United States Secretary of the Interior]] under President [[Herbert Hoover]], also a Stanford alum.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/4085368 |title=Ray Lyman Wilbur, president of Stanford University, papers, 1914-1951 |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=<!--Not stated--> |website=Searchworks Catalog |publisher=Stanford Libraries |access-date=2023-07-12 |quote=}}</ref>


==Early and personal life==
'''Ray Lyman Wilbur''' (April 13, 1875 – June 26, 1949) was an [[United States|American]] [[medical doctor]] who served as the third president of [[Stanford University]] and the 31st [[United States Secretary of the Interior]].
Wilbur was born in [[Boone, Iowa|Boonesboro, Iowa]], the son of attorney and businessman Dwight Locke Wilbur and the former Edna Maria Lyman.<ref name = "Lane">{{cite web|url=http://elane.stanford.edu/wilson/html/chap26/chap26-sect5.html|title=Ray Lyman Wilbur (1875-1949)|work=Lane Library|access-date=25 November 2012|archive-date=10 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110043154/http://elane.stanford.edu/wilson/html/chap26/chap26-sect5.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was raised with a brother, [[Curtis D. Wilbur]], who served as the [[United States Secretary of the Navy|U.S. Secretary of the Navy]] under President [[Calvin Coolidge]], and was a judge of the [[Supreme Court of California]]. The Wilbur family moved to [[Riverside, California]], when Ray Lyman was twelve.<ref name="ReferenceA">Ray L. Wilbur Dies at Stanford at 74, The New York Times, June 27, 1949</ref>


Wilbur graduated from [[Riverside Polytechnic High School|Riverside High School]], then studied at [[Stanford University]], receiving a [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] degree in 1896 and an [[Master of Arts|M.A.]] degree in 1897. He then studied at [[Cooper Medical College]] in [[San Francisco]] (then of the [[University of California, San Francisco]], now the medical school of Stanford), receiving a [[Doctor of Medicine]] degree in 1899.<ref name="memorial">{{cite web|url=http://histsoc.stanford.edu/pdfmem/WilburRL.pdf|title=Memorial Resolution: Ray Lyman Wilbur|date=September 30, 1949|work=Academic Council|publisher=Stanford University|access-date=25 November 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727075138/http://histsoc.stanford.edu/pdfmem/WilburRL.pdf|archive-date=27 July 2011}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=October 4, 2016 |title=Ray L. Wilbur (1929–1933) |url=https://millercenter.org/president/hoover/essays/wilbur-1929-secretary-of-the-interior#:~:text=He%20began%20his%20education%20at,formed%20a%20life-long%20friendship. |access-date=October 28, 2024 |website=Miller Center |language=en}}</ref>
==Early life==
Wilbur was born in [[Boone County, Iowa]], to Dwight Locke Wilbur and Edna Maria Lyman. A brother, [[Curtis Dwight Wilbur]], became [[United States Secretary of the Navy]] under President [[Calvin Coolidge]] and a Judge of the Supreme Court of [[California]]. The Wilbur family moved to [[Riverside, California]] when Ray Lyman was twelve.<ref name="ReferenceA">Ray L. Wilbur Dies at Stanford at 74, The New York Times, June 27, 1949</ref>


While a freshman at his Stanford home, Wilbur met future President [[Herbert Hoover]], who was drumming up business on campus for a local laundry.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The two men became lifelong friends.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
Wilbur studied at [[Stanford University]], receiving a [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] degree in 1896 and an [[Master of Arts (postgraduate)|M.A.]] degree in 1897. He then studied at [[Cooper Medical College]], receiving a [[Doctor of Medicine]] degree in 1899. While a freshman at Stanford, he met future US President [[Herbert Hoover]], who was drumming up campus business for a local laundry.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The two men became lifelong friends.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Wilbur's wife, the former Marguerite May Blake, was a college friend of Hoover's wife, and was one of [[Lou Hoover]]'s closest friends in Washington during Mrs. Hoover's years as First Lady.<ref name="Mrs">Mrs RL Wilbur is Close Friend of First Lady, Atlanta Constitution, March 11, 1929</ref> Mrs. Wilbur was severely injured when she fell from a horse in 1922, breaking several vertebrae in her spine and becoming permanently incapacitated.<ref name="Mrs" /> She died in 1946.<ref>Mrs Ray L. Wilbur, ''The New York Times'', Dec. 25, 1946</ref>


On December 5, 1898, Wilbur married the former Marguerite May Blake, who was a college friend of [[Lou Henry Hoover|Lou Hoover]], Herbert Hoover's wife.<ref name="Mrs">Mrs RL Wilbur is Close Friend of First Lady, Atlanta Constitution, March 11, 1929</ref> The couple had five children (Jessica Wilbur Ely, [[Blake Colburn Wilbur]], [[Dwight Locke Wilbur]], Lois Wilbur Hopper, and Ray Lyman Wilbur, Jr.). Marguerite Wilbur died on December 24, 1946, at age 71.<ref>Mrs Ray L. Wilbur, ''The New York Times'', Dec. 25, 1946</ref>
During [[World War I]], Wilbur served as chief of the conservation division of the [[United States Food Administration]].<ref name="RayLyman">Ray Lyman Wilbur Taken By Death, ''Los Angeles Times'', June 27, 1949</ref> While at the USFA, he coined the slogan "Food Will Win the War."<ref name="ReferenceA"/> He later became US President [[Warren Harding]]'s personal physician and was present at Harding's deathbed.


==Stanford==
==Stanford University==
Wilbur first became a member of Stanford's faculty in 1896, as an instructor in physiology. In 1900, Wilbur was made an assistant professor while simultaneously carrying on a busy medical practice. He was the only physician in the university community.
[[Dean (education)|Dean]] of the [[Stanford University School of Medicine]] from 1911 to 1916, Wilbur served as president of Stanford from January 1, 1916 until 1943, including during his period as Secretary of the Interior. In his most memorable address to the Stanford community, he told his students: "If you know a better place to live right now [1940] than this country, get a ticket and try to get there."<ref name="RayLyman" /> From 1943 until his death in 1949 he served as the university's [[chancellor]]. Among his most notable stances while at Stanford were his opposition to [[fraternities]] and to automobiles on campus.<ref>Dr. RL Wilbur, Hoover Cabinet Member, Dies, ''Chicago Daily Tribune'', June 27, 1949</ref>


From 1903 to 1909, Wilbur practiced medicine full-time. In 1909, he became a professor of medicine and in 1911 was named [[Dean (education)|dean]] of the new [[Stanford University School of Medicine]], located at the former Cooper Medical College, where Wilbur had received his M.D. degree.<ref name = "Lane" /> He served as the dean until 1916.<ref name = "memorial" />
Wilbur served as President of the [[American Medical Association]] from 1923-1924. His son, [[Dwight Locke Wilbur]], followed in his footsteps as President of the AMA in 1968-1969. Wilbur belonged to several private men's clubs, including the [[Bohemian Club]], the [[Pacific-Union Club]], the [[Commonwealth Club of California|Commonwealth Club]] and the University Club in San Francisco.<ref>Dulfer & Hoag. [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~npmelton/sr25stan.htm ''Our Society Blue Book''], pp. 177–178. San Francisco, Dulfer & Hoag, 1925</ref>


In 1916, he was chosen to serve as president of Stanford and continued in that position until 1943, including during his tenure as [[United States Secretary of the Interior|Secretary of the Interior]]. Upon his inauguration as its president, he said that he intended to devote the rest of his life to Stanford, and he did.<ref name = "memorial" /> From his retirement as president in 1943 until his death in 1949, he served as the University's [[chancellor (education)|chancellor]]. During [[World War I]], Wilbur served as a chief of the conservation division of the [[United States Food Administration]].<ref name="RayLyman">Ray Lyman Wilbur Taken By Death, ''Los Angeles Times'', June 27, 1949</ref> While at the USFA, he coined the slogan "Food Will Win the War."<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
When the [[California Legislature]] established the State Park Commission in 1927,<ref name="sierraclubhist">{{Cite web|url=http://www.valdosta.edu/~tmanning/hon399/mike.htm|title=Climb the mountains and get their good tidings: A History of the Sierra Club}}</ref> Wilbur was named to the original commission, along with<ref name="sierraclub">{{Cite journal|last=Colby|first=William E.|authorlink=William Edward Colby|coauthor=[[Frederick Law Olmsted]]|year=1933|month=April|title=Borrego Desert Park|journal=Sierra Club Bulletin|volume=XVIII|pages=144|url=http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/73fall/anza.htm}}</ref> Major [[Frederick Russell Burnham]], W. F. Chandler, [[William Edward Colby]], and Henry W. O'Melveny.

Wilbur reorganized graduate education, established the Lower Division, introduced Independent Study, and regrouped academic departments within the Schools of the University. He launched the [[Stanford Graduate School of Business]] and the Food Research Institute.<ref name = "memorial" /> Among his most notable stances while at Stanford were his opposition to [[fraternities]] and to automobiles on campus.<ref>Dr. RL Wilbur, Hoover Cabinet Member, Dies, ''Chicago Daily Tribune'', June 27, 1949</ref>

Wilbur served as the President of the [[American Medical Association]] from 1923 to 1924. In 1923, he was one of the doctors called in to consult when President [[Warren G. Harding#Western travels.2C illness and death|Warren G. Harding]] fell ill in San Francisco, and was present at his deathbed. His son, [[Dwight Locke Wilbur]], later followed in his footsteps as President of the AMA from 1968 until 1969. Wilbur belonged to several private men's clubs, including the [[Bohemian Club]], the [[Pacific-Union Club]], the [[Commonwealth Club of California|Commonwealth Club]] and the University Club in San Francisco.<ref>Dulfer & Hoag. [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~npmelton/sr25stan.htm ''Our Society Blue Book''], pp. 177–178. San Francisco, Dulfer & Hoag, 1925</ref>

When the [[California Legislature]] established the State Park Commission in 1927,<ref name="sierraclubhist">{{Cite web|url=http://www.valdosta.edu/~tmanning/hon399/mike.htm|title=Climb the mountains and get their good tidings: A History of the Sierra Club|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060918002825/http://www.valdosta.edu/~tmanning/hon399/mike.htm|archive-date=2006-09-18}}</ref> Wilbur was named to the original commission, along with<ref name="sierraclub">{{Cite journal|last=Colby|first=William E.|author-link=William Edward Colby|author2=Frederick Law Olmsted|author2-link=Frederick Law Olmsted|date=April 1933|title=Borrego Desert Park|journal=Sierra Club Bulletin|volume=XVIII|pages=144|url=http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/73fall/anza.htm|access-date=2007-07-29|archive-date=2016-04-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403064637/https://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/73fall/anza.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Major [[Frederick Russell Burnham]], W. F. Chandler, [[William Edward Colby]], and [[O'Melveny & Myers|Henry W. O'Melveny]].


==Secretary of the Interior==
==Secretary of the Interior==
President Hoover nominated Wilbur as [[United States Secretary of the Interior]] on 5 March 1929; Wilbur assumed that office the same day. His tenure ended on 5 March 1933, as Hoover left office.
On March 5, 1929, President Hoover nominated Wilbur as the [[United States Secretary of the Interior|U.S. Secretary of the Interior]] confirmed by the Senate, and assumed office the same day. His tenure ended on March 4, 1933, as Hoover left office.<ref name=":0" />


As Interior Secretary, Wilbur addressed corruption in [[Office of Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves|granting contracts for naval oil reserves]], which had caused controversy during the Harding Administration's [[Teapot Dome]] scandal. Wilbur promulgated a policy that no new oil leases would be granted to private individuals except when mandated by law.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
As Interior Secretary, Wilbur addressed corruption in [[Office of Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves|granting contracts for naval oil reserves]], which had caused controversy during the Harding administration's [[Teapot Dome]] scandal. Wilbur promulgated a policy that no new oil leases would be granted to private individuals except when mandated by law.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>


[[File:Ray Lyman Wilbur with first spike from Boulder Dam cph.3b21644.jpg|thumb|right|Wilbur visits Boulder Dam (c. 1930)]]
Secretary Wilbur was criticized by political opponents for his allocation of power from the [[Boulder Dam]] to private utilities. Opponents also criticized him for renaming the [[Boulder Dam]] after President Hoover.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
Wilbur was criticized by political opponents for his allocation of power from [[Boulder Dam]] to private utilities. Opponents also criticized him for renaming the dam Hoover Dam.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>


Wilbur took a particular interest in [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] while in office and reorganized the department's [[Bureau of Indian Affairs]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/> He assisted [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] in working to become more self-reliant.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
Wilbur took a particular interest in [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] while in office and reorganized the department's [[Bureau of Indian Affairs]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/> He assisted Native Americans in working to become more self-reliant.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>


==New Deal critic==
==New Deal critic==
After leaving the Department of the Interior Wilbur became a vocal critic of [[Franklin Roosevelt]]'s [[New Deal]] and a leading champion of "rugged individualism."<ref name="RayLyman_a">Ray Lyman Wilbur, ''The Washington Post'', June 28, 1949</ref> He wrote: "It is common talk that every individual is entitled to economic security. The only animals and birds I know that have economic security are those that have been domesticated--and the economic security they have is controlled by the barbed-wire fence, the butcher's knife and the desire of others. They are milked, skinned, egged or eaten up by their protectors."<ref name="RayLyman_a" />
After leaving the [[United States Department of the Interior|Department of the Interior]] in 1933, Wilbur became a vocal critic of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s [[New Deal]] and was the leading champion of "rugged individualism".<ref name="RayLyman_a">Ray Lyman Wilbur, ''The Washington Post'', June 28, 1949</ref>


He wrote: "It is common talk that every individual is entitled to economic security. The only animals and birds I know that have economic security are those that have been domesticated—and the economic security they have is controlled by the barbed-wire fence, the butcher's knife and the desire of others. They are milked, skinned, egged or eaten up by their protectors."<ref name="RayLyman_a" />
==Death==

Wilbur died of heart disease at his home in [[Palo Alto, California]] on June 26, 1949.<ref name="RayLyman" /> Herbert Hoover eulogized him as "my devoted friend and constant friend since boyhood."<ref name="RayLyman" /> He said of Wilbur: "During all his years, including his later chancellorship of Stanford, he has given a multitude of services to the people. Public health and education have been enriched over all these years from his sane statesmanship and rugged intellectual honesty. America is a better place for his having lived in it."<ref name="RayLyman" />
==Death and legacy==
==committe on the cost of medical care==
Wilbur died of [[heart disease]] at his [[Stanford, California|Stanford]] campus home on June 26, 1949, at age 74. He is buried at [[Alta Mesa Memorial Park]] in [[Palo Alto, California]].<ref name = "NNDB">{{cite web|url=http://www.nndb.com/people/693/000167192/|title=Ray Lyman Wilbur|work=NNDB|access-date=25 November 2012}}</ref> Hoover eulogized him as "my devoted friend and constant friend since boyhood."<ref name="RayLyman" /> He said of Wilbur: "During all his years, including his later chancellorship of Stanford, he has given a multitude of services to the people. Public health and education have been enriched over all these years from his sane statesmanship and rugged intellectual honesty. America is a better place for his having lived in it."<ref name="RayLyman" />
need something here; this was a major thing (see America in Midpassage, by CA and MR Beard, vol III, Macmillan, NY, 1939, 2nd printing, page 835
or http://129.98.180.10/uploadedFiles/EJBM/19Ross129.pdf
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp0906917
http://www.sigmondpapers.com/shapers_pdf/shapers_appendix_a.pdf


==Legacy==
[[File:Wilbur Hall Stanford University.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Wilbur Hall, a student residence on the Stanford University campus.]]
[[File:Wilbur Hall Stanford University.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Wilbur Hall, a student residence on the Stanford University campus.]]
A [[dormitory]] complex at Stanford University is named after Dr. Wilbur.
A [[dormitory]] complex at Stanford University is named after Wilbur.


==References==
==References==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


==Further reading==
==Further reading==
*''[https://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/magazine/article/?article_id=83000 The Doctor-President Who Made Stanford Better] '''Stanford Magazine, January 6, 2016'''''
*''The Memoirs of Ray Lyman Wilbur 1875-1940'', Stanford University Press, 1960
*''The Memoirs of Ray Lyman Wilbur 1875-1940'', Stanford University Press, 1960
*Ely, Northcutt. (1994-12-16). [http://www.redlandsfortnightly.org/papers/persgulf.htm "Doctor Ray Lyman Wilbur: Third President of Stanford & Secretary of the Interior."] Paper presented at the Fortnightly Club of Redlands, California, meeting #1530
*Ely, Northcutt. (1994-12-16). [http://www.redlandsfortnightly.org/papers/persgulf.htm "Doctor Ray Lyman Wilbur: Third President of Stanford & Secretary of the Interior."] Paper presented at the Fortnightly Club of Redlands, California, meeting #1530
*''Human Hopes: Addresses & Papers on Education, Citizenship, & Social Problems'', Stanford University Press, 1940

{{Clear}}
{{Clear}}

==External links==
{{Wikisource author}}
* {{Commons category-inline|Ray Lyman Wilbur}}
* {{Wikiquote inline}}


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{{Succession box|
{{Succession box|
before= [[John Casper Branner|John C. Branner]] |
before= [[John Casper Branner|John C. Branner]] |
title= [[List_of_Stanford_University_people#University_presidents|President of Stanford University]] |
title= [[List of Stanford University people#Presidents|President of Stanford University]] |
years= 1916&ndash;1943 |
years= 1916&ndash;1943 |
after= [[Donald Tresidder|Donald B. Tresidder]]
after= [[Donald Tresidder|Donald B. Tresidder]]
}}
}}
{{S-off}}
{{S-off}}
{{U.S. Secretary box
{{U.S. Cabinet official box
|before= [[Roy Owen West|Roy West]]
|before= [[Roy Owen West|Roy O. West]]
|after= [[Harold L. Ickes]]
|after= [[Harold L. Ickes]]
|years= 1929&ndash;1933
|years= March 5, 1929&ndash;March 4, 1933
|president= [[Herbert Hoover]]
|president= [[Herbert Hoover]]
|department= Secretary of the Interior}}
|department= Secretary of the Interior}}
{{S-end}}
{{S-end}}
{{USSecInterior}}
{{USSecInterior}}
{{Stanford Presidents}}
{{Stanford presidents}}
{{Hoover cabinet}}
{{Hoover cabinet}}
{{American Medical Association Presidents}}
{{Authority control}}


{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME =Wilbur, Ray Lyman
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = President of Stanford University
| DATE OF BIRTH = April 13, 1875
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Boone County, Iowa]]
| DATE OF DEATH = June 26, 1949
| PLACE OF DEATH = [[Palo Alto, California]]
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilbur, Ray Lyman}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilbur, Ray Lyman}}
[[Category:1875 births]]
[[Category:1875 births]]
[[Category:1949 deaths]]
[[Category:1949 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Boone County, Iowa]]
[[Category:People from Boone, Iowa]]
[[Category:Presidents of Stanford University]]
[[Category:Presidents of Stanford University]]
[[Category:United States Secretaries of the Interior]]
[[Category:United States secretaries of the interior]]
[[Category:American Congregationalists]]
[[Category:American Congregationalists]]
[[Category:Hoover administration cabinet members]]

[[Category:20th-century American politicians]]
[[de:Ray Lyman Wilbur]]
[[Category:California Republicans]]
[[fr:Ray Lyman Wilbur]]
[[Category:People from Riverside, California]]
[[Category:Stanford University alumni]]
[[Category:Presidents of the American Medical Association]]

Latest revision as of 23:12, 18 November 2024

Ray Wilbur
3rd President of Stanford University
In office
March 4, 1933 – June 30, 1943
Preceded byRobert E. Swain (Acting)
Succeeded byDonald Tresidder
In office
January 22, 1916 – March 5, 1929
Preceded byJohn Branner
Succeeded byRobert E. Swain (Acting)
31st United States Secretary of the Interior
In office
March 5, 1929 – March 4, 1933
PresidentHerbert Hoover
Preceded byRoy West
Succeeded byHarold L. Ickes
Personal details
Born
Ray Lyman Wilbur

(1875-04-13)April 13, 1875
Boonesboro, Iowa, U.S.
DiedJune 26, 1949(1949-06-26) (aged 74)
Stanford, California, U.S.
Resting placeAlta Mesa Memorial Park
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Marguerite Blake
​
​
(m. 1898; died 1946)​
Children5, including Blake and Dwight
Alma materStanford University (BA, MA)
University of California, San Francisco (MD)

Ray Lyman Wilbur (April 13, 1875 – June 26, 1949) was an American politician, physician, and eugenicist.[1] He was a medical doctor who served as the third president of Stanford University and as the 31st United States Secretary of the Interior under President Herbert Hoover, also a Stanford alum.[2]

Early and personal life

[edit]

Wilbur was born in Boonesboro, Iowa, the son of attorney and businessman Dwight Locke Wilbur and the former Edna Maria Lyman.[3] He was raised with a brother, Curtis D. Wilbur, who served as the U.S. Secretary of the Navy under President Calvin Coolidge, and was a judge of the Supreme Court of California. The Wilbur family moved to Riverside, California, when Ray Lyman was twelve.[4]

Wilbur graduated from Riverside High School, then studied at Stanford University, receiving a B.A. degree in 1896 and an M.A. degree in 1897. He then studied at Cooper Medical College in San Francisco (then of the University of California, San Francisco, now the medical school of Stanford), receiving a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1899.[5][6]

While a freshman at his Stanford home, Wilbur met future President Herbert Hoover, who was drumming up business on campus for a local laundry.[4] The two men became lifelong friends.[4]

On December 5, 1898, Wilbur married the former Marguerite May Blake, who was a college friend of Lou Hoover, Herbert Hoover's wife.[7] The couple had five children (Jessica Wilbur Ely, Blake Colburn Wilbur, Dwight Locke Wilbur, Lois Wilbur Hopper, and Ray Lyman Wilbur, Jr.). Marguerite Wilbur died on December 24, 1946, at age 71.[8]

Stanford University

[edit]

Wilbur first became a member of Stanford's faculty in 1896, as an instructor in physiology. In 1900, Wilbur was made an assistant professor while simultaneously carrying on a busy medical practice. He was the only physician in the university community.

From 1903 to 1909, Wilbur practiced medicine full-time. In 1909, he became a professor of medicine and in 1911 was named dean of the new Stanford University School of Medicine, located at the former Cooper Medical College, where Wilbur had received his M.D. degree.[3] He served as the dean until 1916.[5]

In 1916, he was chosen to serve as president of Stanford and continued in that position until 1943, including during his tenure as Secretary of the Interior. Upon his inauguration as its president, he said that he intended to devote the rest of his life to Stanford, and he did.[5] From his retirement as president in 1943 until his death in 1949, he served as the University's chancellor. During World War I, Wilbur served as a chief of the conservation division of the United States Food Administration.[9] While at the USFA, he coined the slogan "Food Will Win the War."[4]

Wilbur reorganized graduate education, established the Lower Division, introduced Independent Study, and regrouped academic departments within the Schools of the University. He launched the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Food Research Institute.[5] Among his most notable stances while at Stanford were his opposition to fraternities and to automobiles on campus.[10]

Wilbur served as the President of the American Medical Association from 1923 to 1924. In 1923, he was one of the doctors called in to consult when President Warren G. Harding fell ill in San Francisco, and was present at his deathbed. His son, Dwight Locke Wilbur, later followed in his footsteps as President of the AMA from 1968 until 1969. Wilbur belonged to several private men's clubs, including the Bohemian Club, the Pacific-Union Club, the Commonwealth Club and the University Club in San Francisco.[11]

When the California Legislature established the State Park Commission in 1927,[12] Wilbur was named to the original commission, along with[13] Major Frederick Russell Burnham, W. F. Chandler, William Edward Colby, and Henry W. O'Melveny.

Secretary of the Interior

[edit]

On March 5, 1929, President Hoover nominated Wilbur as the U.S. Secretary of the Interior confirmed by the Senate, and assumed office the same day. His tenure ended on March 4, 1933, as Hoover left office.[6]

As Interior Secretary, Wilbur addressed corruption in granting contracts for naval oil reserves, which had caused controversy during the Harding administration's Teapot Dome scandal. Wilbur promulgated a policy that no new oil leases would be granted to private individuals except when mandated by law.[4]

Wilbur visits Boulder Dam (c. 1930)

Wilbur was criticized by political opponents for his allocation of power from Boulder Dam to private utilities. Opponents also criticized him for renaming the dam Hoover Dam.[4]

Wilbur took a particular interest in Native Americans while in office and reorganized the department's Bureau of Indian Affairs.[4] He assisted Native Americans in working to become more self-reliant.[4]

New Deal critic

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After leaving the Department of the Interior in 1933, Wilbur became a vocal critic of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal and was the leading champion of "rugged individualism".[14]

He wrote: "It is common talk that every individual is entitled to economic security. The only animals and birds I know that have economic security are those that have been domesticated—and the economic security they have is controlled by the barbed-wire fence, the butcher's knife and the desire of others. They are milked, skinned, egged or eaten up by their protectors."[14]

Death and legacy

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Wilbur died of heart disease at his Stanford campus home on June 26, 1949, at age 74. He is buried at Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto, California.[15] Hoover eulogized him as "my devoted friend and constant friend since boyhood."[9] He said of Wilbur: "During all his years, including his later chancellorship of Stanford, he has given a multitude of services to the people. Public health and education have been enriched over all these years from his sane statesmanship and rugged intellectual honesty. America is a better place for his having lived in it."[9]

Wilbur Hall, a student residence on the Stanford University campus.

A dormitory complex at Stanford University is named after Wilbur.

References

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  1. ^ Maldonado, Ben (2019-11-18). "Eugenics on the Farm: Ray Lyman Wilbur". stanforddaily.com. The Stanford Daily Publishing Corporation.
  2. ^ "Ray Lyman Wilbur, president of Stanford University, papers, 1914-1951". Searchworks Catalog. Stanford Libraries. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  3. ^ a b "Ray Lyman Wilbur (1875-1949)". Lane Library. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Ray L. Wilbur Dies at Stanford at 74, The New York Times, June 27, 1949
  5. ^ a b c d "Memorial Resolution: Ray Lyman Wilbur" (PDF). Academic Council. Stanford University. September 30, 1949. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  6. ^ a b "Ray L. Wilbur (1929–1933)". Miller Center. October 4, 2016. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
  7. ^ Mrs RL Wilbur is Close Friend of First Lady, Atlanta Constitution, March 11, 1929
  8. ^ Mrs Ray L. Wilbur, The New York Times, Dec. 25, 1946
  9. ^ a b c Ray Lyman Wilbur Taken By Death, Los Angeles Times, June 27, 1949
  10. ^ Dr. RL Wilbur, Hoover Cabinet Member, Dies, Chicago Daily Tribune, June 27, 1949
  11. ^ Dulfer & Hoag. Our Society Blue Book, pp. 177–178. San Francisco, Dulfer & Hoag, 1925
  12. ^ "Climb the mountains and get their good tidings: A History of the Sierra Club". Archived from the original on 2006-09-18.
  13. ^ Colby, William E.; Frederick Law Olmsted (April 1933). "Borrego Desert Park". Sierra Club Bulletin. XVIII: 144. Archived from the original on 2016-04-03. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
  14. ^ a b Ray Lyman Wilbur, The Washington Post, June 28, 1949
  15. ^ "Ray Lyman Wilbur". NNDB. Retrieved 25 November 2012.

Further reading

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[edit]
Wikisource has original works by or about:
Ray Lyman Wilbur
Academic offices
Preceded by President of Stanford University
1916–1943 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by U.S. Secretary of the Interior
Served under: Herbert Hoover
March 5, 1929–March 4, 1933 		Succeeded by
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