Francis March

Francis March

Francis Andrew March (October 25, 1825 – September 9, 1911) was an American polymath, academic, philologist, and lexicographer. He is considered the principal founder of modern comparative linguistics in Anglo-Saxon.

March applied the methods of studying the Latin and Greek classics towards the study of English literature, and led the way for the first scientific study of the English language.

March was born in Millbury, Massachusetts. He graduated from Amherst College in 1845, and received a M.A. degree from Amherst in 1848. After studying law and teaching for three years, he became instructor at Lafayette College. March occupied the chair of English language and comparative philology at Lafayette College, in Easton, Pennsylvania, from 1857 to 1907. It was the first post of its kind. March was one of the first professors to advocate and teach English in colleges and universities.

In addition to English, March also taught French, German, Greek, Latin, botany, "mental philosophy", political economy, the Constitution, and law.

He also served as president of the American Philological Association (1873–1874; 1895–1896), the Spelling Reform Association (after 1876), and the Modern Language Association (1891–1893).

March was the first American superintendent over the volunteer reading program of the Oxford English Dictionary, thus providing valuable support to James Murray in the compilation of this monumental work.