“His indomitable will,” reported a local journalist “had enabled the school (LSU) to survive reverses that would have overwhelmed any man of less ability and energy.”
David Boyd taught his students that a sense of duty was the most valuable quality they could develop. The Cadets appreciated and admired him. He believed in educating the body and spirit and in a strong executive leadership in the university organization.
Born on October 5, 1834, in Wytheville, Virginia, David was the oldest of eight children. Educated at the University of Virginia, he excelled in ancient and modern languages, mathematics and moral philosophy.
David Boyd accepted a professorship teaching ancient languages at the newly organized Louisiana State Seminary of Learning. He reported to Superintendent William Tecumseh Sherman, and from that day forward there developed a strong relationship between the two men, in spite of their political differences.
Boyd was a serious and dedicated instructor, insisting on discipline and moral behavior. He wrote, “To have a solely military and scientific school is to cramp the intellect.”
Captain David Boyd fought with the Louisiana Ninth Regiment, was captured and later rescued by General Sherman and exchanged for a Union prisoner.
In 1865, Boyd returned to the Seminary and served as interim superintendent, treasurer and professor of English. Disaster struck the Pineville campus in 1869 as the building burned to the ground with all supplies, books, records and belongings.
David Boyd located a new home for the school in Baton Rouge at the Institute for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind. In 1870, through his successful lobbying of the legislature, the Seminary was officially renamed Louisiana State University. Even through adversity the school was thriving under Boyd’s leadership.
President Boyd fought against political interference during his entire career. He wrote to a friend, “I am ashamed to say it but in this entire struggle to keep the University alive I have not considered my wife and children once.” In 1875, both David and Thomas Boyd were working without regular pay.
In 1877, after decade-long struggle, Boyd finally succeeded in getting the Louisiana Legislature’s approval to combine LSU with the State Agricultural and Mechanical College, forming the new Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, which opened in October.
David Boyd’s term ended in October 1880, but the LSU Board brought him back in 1884. An agreement was finally reached in 1886 when Sherman secured the Pentagon property for the University. The United States Congress passed a bill donating the property – which today serves as the Louisiana State Capitol grounds – to LSU.
Disagreements with the Board and ill health led to President David Boyd’s final resignation from the University on December 6, 1886.
In 1897, LSU President Thomas Boyd offered him a position teaching 10 hours per week and supervising buildings and grounds. David wrote to his wife Ettie, “Indeed I have no rest here…I have simply worked too hard…exposed too much to the sun.” On May 26, 1899, he laid down in his office to take a nap and fell into a coma. He died on May 27, 1899, and was buried with civilian and military honors in Magnolia Cemetery in Baton Rouge.
David Boyd dedicated his life to LSU, keeping it open and ensuring its future.