George Finley Bovard (1856-1932), Marion M. Bovard’s younger brother, was born in Alpha, Ind. After attending Indiana public schools, he completed his studies at India Asbury University (now known as DePauw University) while concurrently working as a schoolteacher. In 1879, he came to California to become a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, securing his first pastorate in San Bernardino. He relocated to Phoenix, Ariz., in 1880, for health reasons and returned to Los Angeles in 1881, enrolling at USC. As a member of USC’s first graduating class, Bovard received his bachelor’s degree in 1884. He earned his master’s in 1887, then returned to work as a minister and church administrator. In 1897, he was appointed presiding elder of the Los Angeles District, a position he held for six years.

At his alma mater, Bovard joined with seven other members of USC’s first two graduating classes to form the university’s first alumni association in 1885. He was elected the group’s inaugural president.

He also was a member of the USC Board of Trustees, and, after being named president of the board in 1899, he took responsibility for university-wide administration following the resignation of outgoing university president George W. White. On April 8, 1903 — making official the job he had been carrying out for four years — Bovard was unanimously elected president of the university.

Bovard’s presidency saw a significant expansion of USC’s academic offerings, spanning classes in pharmacy, civil and electrical engineering, and a Juris Doctor degree. USC also added a summer session that provided public school teachers the opportunity to complete additional coursework. USC’s physical plant also expanded with the construction of a gymnasium and two wings for the main university building. These new facilities contained laboratories for scientific study that were comparable to those at the best universities in the country. In 1910, a centrally administered graduate program was formed. Concurrently with these developments, enrollment was on the rise, and by 1916, USC was the second largest denominational university in the country, surpassed only by Northwestern University.

The Bovard administration also brought about a strengthening of USC’s ties to the community in which it was born. As early as 1905, a movement had begun to relocate USC to a less urban location with room for a larger campus, and the university went so far as to establish a committee charged with assessing the situation and identifying potential sites. But the Board of Trustees ultimately voted to keep the campus in its current location. In April 1917, Bovard made an official announcement explaining this decision: his statement articulated USC’s commitment to being a “city institution – the university which tries to solve the problems of the city.”

Almost concurrently with this announcement, USC’s forward movement went into reverse when the United States entered World War I. Enrollment plummeted as students left to enter the armed forces, and campus life changed profoundly as military training was introduced in physical education classes, a course in international conciliation was added to the curriculum and a senior division of the Reserve Officers Training Corps was established, by order of the Department of War, making USC an official training school for army officers.

The end of the war brought regained momentum, with enrollment increasing by 1,000 students annually beginning with the 1920-1921 academic year. Plans also moved forward for a new administration building, whose cornerstone was laid in October 1919. Yet while they represented a promising a new era for USC, the postwar years saw a decline in Bovard’s health. Following a leave of absence, he tendered his resignation. In July 1921, the dedication of the building that bears his name marked the end of his tenure as president. Upon his retirement, Bovard was named president-emeritus and an honorary member of the Board of Trustees.