Albert Baldwin Dod


Albert Baldwin Dod was an American Presbyterian theologian and professor of mathematics.

Early life

Dod was born on March 24, 1805 in Mendham, New Jersey. He was the son of Daniel Dod and Nancy Dod. His mother was the sister of Dr. Ezra Squire, of Caldwell, New Jersey.

Career

After a religious awakening while at college in Princeton, where he graduated with the class of 1822, Dod became affiliated with the influential Princeton Theologians. He published frequently in the group's chief outlet, the Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review, edited by Charles Hodge. Among his publications there, an attack on Transcendentalism attracted wide notice and was later republished by Andrews Norton.
For much of his life he taught mathematics at the College, and participated in theological discussion and preaching at the Seminary, in Princeton. The Doctorate in Divinity, though, was conferred on him by the University of North Carolina and by New York University.

Personal life

Dod married Caroline Smith Bayard, the daughter of Samuel Bayard and granddaughter of Continental Congressman John Bubenheim Bayard, all descendants of Peter Stuyvesant. Together, Albert and Caroline had eight children:
Dod died of pleurisy after a brief illness on November 20, 1845.

Legacy

In 1869, his son Samuel Bayard Dod established an Endowed Professorship at Princeton University in mathematics in memory of him. In 1926, his great-grandson, Richard Stockton III, commissioned a bust of Dod which was placed at Dod Hall, the undergraduate dormitory named in his honor.