Page 2, THE BATTALION, Thurs., Nov. 9
Harrington Began Teaching in 1924
As Instructor in Chem Department
(Continued from page 1)
sure there are no more Harring
ton boys coming out of A&M.”
In the summer of 1946, Dr. Har
rington was appointed Assistant
Dean of the College at the A&M
Annex and served in that position
until the following year when he
was named Dean of the School
of Arts and Sciences.
Advancement was again rapid
and he jumped to the post of
Dean of the College, the job to
be held while preparing to assume
the duties of his new position.
Dr. Harrington was nominated
for the presidency by Chancellor
Gibb Gilchrist of the A&M College
System after a year of careful
study of qualification^ of men
from all over the country avail
able for the post. The Aggie-Ex
won the unanimous approval of
the Board of Directors.
Previous to announcing their
choice for president, the Board
of Directors listed the qualifica
tions desired. In the words of
Board Vice-President John New
ton, these were—“He must be a
man of outstanding character, a
teacher and educator with the
ability to lead; a man who can
deal harmoniously with people
and, if possible, a man with a
Doctor’s degree.
“He must be a capable admin
istrator, preferably have a south
ern background, and not be over
fifty years of age,” Newton con
cluded.
Board member C. C. Krueger,
speaking after the selection had
been announced, said, “We spent
a whole year looking throughout
the nation for the kind of man
we wanted for the next president
of A&M and we were proud that
it was to A&M we finally turned
to find him. We have every con
fidence that the college will make
great progress under his leader
ship.”
President Frank C. Bolton had
this to say of his successor: “It is
with genuine pleasure that I learn
the board of directors has chosen
my associate, Dr. M. T. Harring
ton, as the man to whom I am to
hand over the reins of the college
when I retire to modified service
. . . Dr. Harrington and I have
worked together for A&M for al
most a quarter of a century, and
I am pleased that I will be able
to relinquish the leadership of the
college to such capable and ex
perienced hands.”
The new president lives in the
executive home on the campus
first occupied by Lawrence Sulli
van Ross. He has one son, 11-year
old John Norris.
An active man in community af
fairs in College Station, he has
served on the city council and on
boards of various community or
ganizations.
Both he and Mrs. Harrington
(See next page)
The First Family
President and Mrs. Harrington had long been residents of the
college and of College Station when this snapshot was taken in
December of 1943. John Norris, center, is now 11 years.
The Harrington Boy:
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Young Tom was the uncertain one with the frilly bow tie.
Flanking him are his two older brothers, T. C., (left) now a Plano
businessman, and E. E., later deceased.
That Traditional Twelve
The year was 1922. And The
Longhorn, A&M yearbook, had on
its pages the picture of one Cadet
Captain Marion Thomas Harring
ton, later to become the twelfth
president of Texas A&M.
Elsewhere in the book, though,
was another story—one telling of
the defeat of Centre College 22-14
in a New Year’s Day grid battle.
The game wih the “Praying Col
onels from Danville” was supposed
to be a one-sided affair. All odds
were against the Aggies.
Our squad was riddled with in
juries. And half-time found us
trailing.
Yet, at the end of the game,
one of the nation’s keenest foot
ball critics said, “If there ever
was a team that played perfect
football it was Texas A&M.”
A large part of that notable
victory can be attributed to one
man—E. King Gill. Gill was not
a member of the team. He had
played football before, but that
day he was just one of many Ag
gie spectators.
At half-time, with their reserves
completely gone, the team turned
to Gill who came down from the
stands, suited out and finished the
game.
Thus was the famous Twelfth
Man—a student body always be
hind the team and always ready
and willing to help the team on
a moment’s notice—born.
It seems a bit significant that
the same game from which came
the original Twelfth Man counted
among its spectators that day the
future twelfth president of A&M
—and the first member of that
Twelfth Man student body to as
sume in later years the leadership
of the school.