Dr. Branner was born in New Market, Tennessee, in 1850. He graduated from Cornell in 1882 and received his Ph. D. at the University of Indiana in 1885.

In 1891 Dr. Branner was selected by Stanford president David Starr Jordan as professor of geology.  He was then connected with the University of Arkansas.  He served as vice-president of Stanford from 1898 to 1913.

Branner was instrumental in researching and documenting the effects of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

In 1913, the Stanford trustees honored him with the university's presidency when Dr. Jordan was promoted to the chancellorship.

Dr. Branner retired as the university's second president in 1915 at age 65.  He also resigned as head of the department of geology and mining, a post he occupied for 23 years.  He was succeeded by Dr. Bailey Willis of the U.S. Geological Survey.

After retirement he was appointed by President Wilson in 1916 to investigate the cause of massive landslides affecting operations of the Panama Canal.

Dr. Branner was a recognized authority on the geology of South American republics, especially Brazil.

During his last decade he headed several expeditions into Brazil and contemplated another trip but was prevented by ill health.

A short biography of John C. Branner is on-line at Stanford University's Web site. Click here to view it.

Memorial Resolution by Stanford University

John Casper Branner (1850 - 1922)

The following resolution was passed at a meeting of the Academic Council held April 7, 1922:

"As witness of our affection for Dr. Branner and respect for his memory, we desire to make our own and incorporate (in part) in the minutes of the Academic Council the appreciation prepared for the Illustrated Review by his friend and colleague, Professor Stillman.

"'In the death of March first of President Emeritus John Casper Branner, Stanford University loses one of its most distinguished scholars, one of its greatest teachers and most respected and beloved personalities.

"Dr. Branner was born in New Market, Tennessee, on July 4, 1850. He attended school at Maury Academy in Dandridge, Tennessee, and later enrolled at Maryville College. At the age of eighteen he entered Cornell University, where he received his bachelor's degree.

"While still an undergraduate he was selected (1875) by Professor Charles F. Hartt to assist him in a geological survey of Brazil, which occasioned several years of work in Brazilian geology. In 1882 he was again commissioned, by the United States Government, to go to South America to investigate insects injurious to cotton and sugar-cane industries. From 1883 to 1885 he was engaged by the Pennsylvania Geological Survey to make a topographic map of the Lackawanna Valley.

"'When David Starr Jordan became President of the University of Indiana in 1885, he appointed his Cornell college and fraternity mate to the professorship of Geology at that institution, a position he held until again called by Dr. Jordan to the similar chair in Stanford University. In the meantime he acted (1887-1892) as State Geologist of Arkansas, while retaining his chair at Indiana.

"From 1891 until his retirement from the University in 1915, Dr. Branner occupied the headship of the Department of Geology and Mining, holding also the office of Vice-President of the University.

From 1898 to 1913, upon the creation of the title of Chancellor for Dr. Jordan, in 1913, Professor Branner was elected President, a position which he held until January, 1916, when he also retired under the age limit established by the University, and became President Emeritus. During his years of service at Stanford, Dr. Branner found occasion to direct or participate in professional missions, such as his expedition to Brazil under the patronage of Alexander Agassiz in 1899, and again in 1907-1908. He was also one of the special Government Commissioners on the Panama Canal, and on the California Earthquake of 1906.

"'The scientific service of Professor Branner has been widely recognized. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, was President (1904) of the American Geological Society, Vice-President (1890) of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, held membership in the Geological Societies of London, Edinburgh, France, was President (1911) of the American Seismological Society, and was a member of Geologic and Geographic societies of several Brazilian states and of other countries. He has received the degrees of Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1885, of LL.D. from the University of Arkansas in 1897, from Maryville College in 1909, and from the University of California in 1915, and the degree of Sc.D.. from the University of Chicago in 1916.

"'His publications are numerous and, while the great majority are on geology, many evidence the breadth of his active interests in botany, entomology, and other lines of natural sciences. His grammar of the Portuguese language (now in its fourth edition) grew out of his Brazilian experience. His bibliography of Clays and Ceramics, an important compilation; the How and Why Stories, a charming collection of negro dialect myths (1921); his genealogy of Casper Branner of Virginia and His Descendants; and his recently completed but as yet unpublished translation from the Portuguese of Alexandre Herculano's Establishment of the Inquisition in Portugal, all evidence his breadth of interests and his tireless energy.

As a teacher Professor Branner exerted upon his students an influence which inspired them to their best efforts. His broad experience, his own systematic and untiring research, his realization of the supreme importance of practical experience as the final test of all theories, were well calculated to stimulate the ability and energy of his students, while his simple, sincere, and sympathetic personality attached them to him with a rare devotion.'

'Dr. Branner's attitude toward the office of President was characteristically expressed in his Inaugural address:

I am here to serve you in every way in my power and in everything that pertains to your work as instructors in the University and as scholars interested in your own special lines of work. I expect and I intend to be the servant of every member of this faculty except myself. I consider the support I can give you my most important duty, and it will be my greatest pleasure.

"In becoming President of the University, Dr. Branner did not cease to be teacher and colleague. He made the problems of all the departments his own. In his relations with students and faculty the informality of attitude and high courtesy were unchanged. He maintained the same dignified simplicity he had exhibited as executive head of his department.

"Dr. Branner's life is a great heritage for Stanford University, for California, and for the nation."

Frank Angell
Jas. Perrin Smith
O. L. Elliott
Committee

Photo borrowed from the Virtual Museum of San Francisco.  No copyright infringement intended.