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[[File:William Chauvenet.jpg|thumb|William Chauvenet]]
'''William Chauvenet''' (24 May 1820 in [[Milford, Pennsylvania]] – 13 December 1870 in [[St. Paul, Minnesota]]) was a professor of mathematics, astronomy, navigation, and surveying who was instrumental in the establishment of the [[U.S. Naval Academy]] at [[Annapolis, Maryland]], and later the second chancellor of [[Washington University in St. Louis]].

== Early life ==
William Chauvenet was born on a farm near [[Milford, Pennsylvania]] to Guillaume Marc Chauvenet, a former soldier of Napoleon's army who reconverted in silk trade after the Emperor's fall, and Mary B. Kerr<ref>{{cite book |title=The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers |last=Hockey |first=Thomas |year=2009 |publisher=[[Springer Publishing]] |isbn=978-0-387-31022-0 |access-date=August 22, 2012 |url=http://www.springerreference.com/docs/html/chapterdbid/58274.html}}</ref> and was raised in Philadelphia. He entered [[Yale University]] at age 16, and graduated in 1840 with high honors. While at Yale, Chauvenet contributed to the school newspaper and was a pianist with the Beethoven Society. He was one of eight founding members of the Skull and Bones Society.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Movers and Shakers, Scalawags and Suffragettes: Tales from Bellefontaine Cemetery|last=Shepley|first=Carol Ferring|publisher=Missouri History Museum|year=2008|location=St. Louis, MO}}</ref>

=== United States Navy ===
In 1841, he was appointed a professor of mathematics in the [[United States Navy]], and for a while served on the [[USS Mississippi (1841)|USS ''Mississippi'']] teaching math. His professorship led Chauvenet to see the necessity of a United States naval academy. While others had proposed the idea, no one had actually seen it through.<ref name=":0" /> In 1842, he was appointed head of the [[Philadelphia Naval School|naval asylum]] in [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]]. At the Naval Asylum, prospective officers took an eight-month course before sailing. Chauvenet felt the course was lacking and drew up his own plan for a two-year course. After being presented to several secretaries of the navy, the course was finally accepted in 1845.<ref name=":0" />

He was instrumental in the 1845 founding of the [[United States Naval Academy]] at [[Annapolis, Maryland]], and taught there for years. He was president of the academic board and in 1851 was part of a board that recommended the course of study be extended to four years. Chauvenet taught in many subjects, including mathematics, surveying, astronomy, and navigation. He helped to establish an astronomical observatory at the naval academy. Chauvenet's contributions were so important that in 1890, Admiral S.R. Franklin proclaimed him "Father of the Naval Academy". A bronze plaque with this inscription was installed in 1916, at the behest of Congress.<ref name=":0" />

In 1855, he declined Yale's offer of a professorship of mathematics to continue working at the Naval Academy in Annapolis.<ref name=":0" />

=== Washington University ===
In 1859, Yale again came calling, offering this time the professorship of astronomy and [[natural philosophy]]. Instead, Chauvenet took a job offered by [[Washington University in St. Louis]]: professor of mathematics and astronomy. He brought with him a deep love of music and a familiarity with the classics, in addition to being an outstanding figure in the world of science, noted by many historians as one of the foremost mathematical minds in the U.S. before the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. It was Chauvenet who mathematically confirmed [[James B. Eads]]' plans for the first bridge to span the Mississippi River at St. Louis. The directors of the University chose him to be chancellor after his friend and Yale classmate [[Joseph Gibson Hoyt|Joseph Hoyt]] died in 1861.<ref name=":0" /> He came to his chancellorship in the midst of the Civil War in a state divided by the question of slavery.

Washington University grew during his chancellorship, adding dozens of professors, hundreds of students, and several new programs, including the law school in 1867. He served as vice president of the [[United States National Academy of Sciences]] and president of the [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]], and was a member of both the [[American Philosophical Society]] and the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]].

Chauvenet authored many treatises and textbooks, including ''A Manual of Spherical and Practical Astronomy'' and ''Theory of the Ribbed Arch''. The 
calculations of Chauvenet and Charles Pfeiffer were used by [[James Buchanan Eads]] in designing and building the [[Eads Bridge]] in St. Louis.<ref name=":0" />

Chauvenet served as chancellor until his death in 1870. William Greenleaf Eliot, founder of Washington University, succeeded him as chancellor.<ref name=":0" /> Chauvenet died in [[St. Paul, Minnesota]], and was buried at [[Bellefontaine Cemetery]] in St. Louis.

==Posthumous honors==
After his death, the [[Mathematical Association of America]] established a prestigious prize in his honor, the [[Chauvenet Prize]]; the Naval Academy named a mathematics building for him; and the U.S. Navy christened two ships after him, [[USS Chauvenet (AGS-11)]] and {{NVR url|id=AGS29|title=Chauvenet (AGS 29)}}.  The [[Chauvenet (crater)|Chauvenet]] crater on the moon is named after him as well.  Mount Chauvenet in the Rocky Mountains is named after him.

==Cultural references==
Chauvenet is referenced in NCIS: Los Angeles, S6, E2, as the name of a Deep Net site.

==See also==
*[[Besselian elements]]
*[[Chauvenet's criterion]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikisource|William Chauvenet}}
{{Commons category|William Chauvenet}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=William Chauvenet}}
*[https://wustl.edu/about/history-traditions/chancellors/chauvenet/ Biographical Entry] at Washington University in St. Louis
*{{Find a Grave|22097|name=William Chauvenet}}
*[http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/chauvenet-william.pdf National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir]

{{Washington University in Saint Louis chancellors}}
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{{Presidents of the American Association for the Advancement of Science}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chauvenent, William}}
[[Category:1820 births]]
[[Category:1870 deaths]]
[[Category:Chancellors of Washington University in St. Louis]]
[[Category:Yale University alumni]]
[[Category:Burials at Bellefontaine Cemetery]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Washington University in St. Louis mathematicians]]
[[Category:United States Naval Academy faculty]]
[[Category:Presidents of the American Association for the Advancement of Science]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]