Claxton, Philander P. United States commissioner of education, 1911-1921. Born in Tennessee, 1862. University of Tennessee, A.B. (1882) and A.M. (1887). Graduate student, Johns Hopkins, 1884-85. Studied in Germany, 1885-86; visited schools in Europe, 1897. Superintendent of schools, Kinston, NC, 1883-84; Wilson, 1886-88; Asheville, 1888-93. Professor of pedagogy and German, 1893-96; professor of pedagogy, North Carolina Normal and Industrial College, 1896-1902. Professor of education, University of Tennessee, 1902-11. In 1921 he was elected provo of the University of Alabama.

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