David Starr Jordan
Videos
David Starr Jordan was the founding president of Stanford University, serving from 1891 to 1913. He was an ichthyologist during his research career. Prior to serving as president of Stanford Universit
Portrait of David Starr Jordan
Jordan as president of Stanford University in 1913
David Starr Jordan House in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
Jordan's wife, Susan Bowen Jordan, in 1879
Eugenics
Videos
Eugenics is a largely discredited set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various
David Starr Jordan
…to serving as president of Stanford University, he served as president of Indiana University from 1885 to 1891. Jordan was also a strong supporter of eugenics, and his published views expressed a fear of "race-degeneration", asserting that cattle and human beings are "governed by the same laws of selection…
1930s exhibit by the Eugenics Society. Some of the signs read "Healthy and Unhealthy Families", "Heredity as the Basis of Efficiency", and "Marry Wisely".
Lester Frank Ward wrote the early paper: "Eugenics, Euthenics and Eudemics", making yet further distinctions.
Giuseppe Diotti's The selection of the infant Spartans (1840)
Francis Galton (1822–1911) was a British polymath who coined the term "eugenics"