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Born in Noxubee County in 1859, Andrew Armstrong Kincannon was the second
Mississippi native to serve as the University's chief administrator.
Striving to make The University of Mississippi a progressive school, he
pointed to other top state schools around the country, such as the
University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin, to inspire an
attitude of enthusiasm and growth. After graduating from the National
Normal University of Ohio in 1884, Kincannon taught at Mississippi A&M
College (now Mississippi State University), was superintendent of the new
public school system in Meridian, and was president of the Industrial
Institute and College (now Mississippi University for Women), before
being elected Chancellor of Ole Miss. During his tenure, the University
grew in size and reputation: Some of its younger graduates were among
the first of a growing list of Rhodes Scholars; the School of Pharmacy
opened in 1908; and in 1911, The Mississippian, the University's
student newspaper, was started under the auspices of the YMCA and two
literary societies. But there was increasing animosity in the Legislature
toward the University: Fraternities and sororities were banished by law
in 1912.
