Lowell, A. Lawrence

Lowell, A. (Abbott) Lawrence

(1856–1943) political scientist; born in Boston, Mass. (brother of Amy Lowell and Percival Lowell). After practicing law (1880–97), he taught at Harvard (1897–1909) and served as its president (1909–33). As president, he revamped the undergraduate curriculum and pioneered the opening of Harvard's graduate schools of architecture, business administration, education, and public health. He wrote on a variety of subjects including American education, European history and government, a biography of his astronomer brother, Percival, and his own autobiography. Due to public outcry in 1927, he and two others were asked by the governor of Massachusetts to review the Sacco and Vanzetti murder verdict and subsequent death sentence; the "Lowell Committee" upheld the court's verdict and the execution took place, leaving Lowell a permanent villain in certain circles.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.