Quick Facts
Biography
Willard Preston (1785 – 1856) was the fourth President of the University of Vermont, and was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity by the University of Georgia after 25 years of service to the Independent Presbyterian Church of Savannah. He was born in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, Worcester County and died in Savannah, Chatham County, GA.
Early Life, Education, and Early Service
Preston was born in Uxbridge in 1785. He was educated in Uxbridge. He graduated from Brown University in 1806 and served churches at Uxbridge, in Rhode Island, and Vermont.
4th President of UVM, and honorary Doctorate from the University of Georgia
In 1825 he became the 4th President of the University of Vermont UVM. During his tenure, the Marquies de Layfayette laid the cornerstone of the south College of UVM. He pastored the well known Independent Presbyterian church of Savannah, Georgia for over 25 years. He received an honorary DD from the University of Georgia, prior to his death in 1856. Preston had several bound volumes of published sermons and is perhaps best known for a farewell sermon at St. Albans, VT and a sermon during a period of national fasting and mourning on the death of President Harrison in 1841.