Henry Durant

Henry Durant (June 18, 1802 in Acton, Massachusetts – January 22, 1875 in Oakland, California) was an American minister and educator. He was the founding president of the University of California. Durant also served as Mayor of Oakland. Biography Durant attended Phillips Academy and the Andover Theological Seminary in Andover, Massachusetts; he then studied for the ministry at Yale College, from which he graduated in 1827. In 1833 he was ordained pastor of the Congregational church of Byfield, Massachusetts. In the same year, he married Mary E. Buffett of Stanwich, Connecticut. Career After serving in the ministry for 16 years, he resigned his pastorate and became headmaster of the Dummer Academy (today known as The Governor's Academy) in Byfield. He held that position from 1849 to 1852. In 1853, Durant came to California and founded the Contra Costa Academy, as a private school for boys. In 1855, the school was chartered as the College of California.