Sapporo Agricultural College
It was renamed Sapporo Agricultural College one year later. The first president of the college was Zusho Hirotake. Dr. William Smith Clark, a graduate of Amherst College and the president of the Massachusetts Agricultural College was appointed as the vice president of the college. Clark taught in Sapporo only eight months but left a deep impact on the students. Specifically, his parting words, "Boys, be ambitious," have become among the most famous phrases in Japan. He was followed by William Penn Brooks, also from Massachusetts Agricultural College. As the second vice president, another American, Wheeler was invited. Cecil Peabody was a professor of mathematics (circa 1878 to 1882). This college is well known in Japan as a successful Japanese-English immersion school, which produced many good English speakers and writers. The early graduates, especially Classes 1880–1885, played a directional role in modernizing Japan.