Tappan, Henry Philip, 1805-1881

Henry Philip Tappan (April 18, 1805 – November 15, 1881) was an American philosopher, educator and academic administrator. In August 1852, he assumed the newly created presidency of the restructured University of Michigan, an office established by the Constitution of the State of Michigan in 1850. A pioneer in the transformation of American university curricula, he was instrumental in fashioning the University of Michigan as a prototype for future universities across the United States, and has been called the "John the Baptist of the age of the American university." However, his academic career was ultimately cut short due to his impartial stance on religion and personality clashes with the university regents and certain faculty members, leading him to spend the remainder of his life in self-imposed exile in Europe.