William Holding Echols

William Holding Echols was born 2 December 1859 in San Antonio, Texas. He received early private school educational training from the University of the South (in Sewanee, Tennessee) and the Episcopal High School of Virginia (in Alexandria). He earned both a Bachelor of Science and a civil engineering degree from the University of Virginia in 1882. After serving as an engineer for several railroad and mining companies, Echols accepted an engineering professorship, and later the directorship, at the Missouri School of Mines. He married Mary Elizabeth Blakey in September 1885, and they had five children before her death in 1894.

In 1891, Echols moved to Charlottesville to become an Adjunct Professor of Mathematics at the University. Besides introducing mechanical engineering to the University's curriculum, Echols served as the buildings and grounds supervisor. He aptly filled the latter role during the Rotunda fire of 1895. Armed with dynamite, Echols twice tried to separate the Rotunda from the burning Annex. After his attempt from the ground failed, he climbed to the top of the dome. He threw his explosives into the fire, causing an explosion heard fifteen miles away! Although the plan was not successful, the people of Charlottesville applauded the effort. He became a Full Professor of Mathematics in 1895. Two years later, he married Elizabeth Mitchell Harrison, with whom he also had five children.

In mathematics, Echols wrote Elementary Textbook on the Differential and Integral Calculus, (1902). For the University community, he composed and delivered lectures on "The Infinite Mystery" (1912), "Truth" (1913), and "The Eleventh Commandment" (1914), all of which concerned philosophical issues and the Honor Code.

Echols, nicknamed "Reddy" on account of his red hair, became a fixture in the University. He gave the annual address on the honor system to the first year students and was active in Eli Banana, the first of the University's social organizations known as "ribbon" societies. Echols died of a heart attack on 25 September 1934 at his home on the East Lawn.

In 1960, the University's Echols Scholars Program was begun in his name. He is buried in the University Cemetery, behind Echols House, a McCormick Road residence hall.

Selected References

1. Paul Barringer, James Garnett, Roswell Page, ed., University of Virginia: Its History, Influence, Equipment and Characteristics, 2 vols., New York: Lewis Publishing Company, 1904.
2. Harry Clemons, Notes on the Professors for whom the University of Virginia Halls and Residence Houses are Named, Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1961.
3. Virginius Dabney, Mr. Jefferson's University: A History, Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1981.