William Francis Magie (1858-1943) served as Princeton’s fourth dean of the faculty from 1912 to 1925. He was one of the most influential American scholars in physics in the early 20th century, contributing to the success of the University for 50 years.

Magie was valedictorian of the Princeton Class of 1879. During his undergraduate years, he served as an editor of the Princetonian and had a strong interest in the humanities. However, roused by news of the first Princeton expedition to the American West in 1877, Magie “could not help wishing” that he too “might have a chance to work in some scientific field.”

Toward the end of Magie’s senior year, the University’s only physics instructor suffered a breakdown. He was subsequently offered a position as a physics assistant, which he accepted. Over the next 50 years, Magie’s contributions to research, teaching and administration were immense.

In 1894, Magie collaborated with two physicians to publish the first paper in the United States on the possible use of Roentgen’s newly discovered X-rays in surgery. He later authored “Principles of Physics,” a highly regarded account of the rise and content of physical theories.

In 1890, Magie took over as professor of undergraduate physics courses at Princeton. He became increasingly involved in the department's administration and, in 1908, became its chair. Magie worked closely with the incumbent Dean of the Faculty Henry Burchard Fine, to build a strong physics department at Princeton.

Magie was a founding member of the American Physical Society in 1899 and served as its president from 1911 to 1912. He was also vice president for Section B of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the American Philosophical Society.   

Magie held the office of clerk of the faculty from 1902 to 1912. When John Grier Hibben became University president in 1912, he appointed Magie as Fine’s successor as dean of the faculty. Magie held the deanship until 1925 and served as chair of the physics department until his retirement in 1929.

During his tenure as dean of the faculty, Magie was known for his patience and fairness. “For faculty members and for students alike he had an inexhaustible fund of kindly sympathy and generous help,” his colleagues noted.

In 1965, apartments for junior faculty on the north side of Lake Carnegie, next to the Hibben apartments, were named for Magie. When those apartments were later replaced by the Lakeside Apartments for graduate students, one of the roadways through the Lakeside complex was named for Hibben and Magie.

Written by Shane B. Black for the Office of the Dean of the Faculty.