Paul E. Titsworth

The fifth president of Alfred University, Paul Emerson Titsworth, was born on May 31, 1881 in Ashaway Rhode Island. However, most of his youth was spent in Alfred. He graduated from the Alfred Academy in 1900. He studied in Berlin and Dresden, Germany in 1902. Next he studied at Ohio State University for the 1903-1904 school year. He completed his bachelor?s degree at Alfred University with the class of 1904. After completing his Ph. D. at the University of Wisconsin, he returned to Alfred as a modern languages instructor. Eventually he became the leader of the English department. In 1920 he was selected as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. He kept this position until 1923 when he became president of Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. While in Maryland he became the first president of the Rotary club in Chestertown and, later, the governor of the 34th district of the rotary. When President Davis retired he was asked to return to Alfred as president. He was inaugurated on August 1, 1933. A few short months later, on December 12, 1933, President Titsworth died of a sudden heart attack. He and his wife, Vida Stillman Titsworth had three daughters: Eleanor, Katherine and Elizabeth.