page_title: John J. Tigert
section_title: Early life and education
hierarchical_section_title: John J. Tigert / Early life and education
caption_attribution_description: John J Tigert, Vanderbilt football player
context_page_description: John James Tigert IV was an American university president, university professor and administrator, college sports coach and the U.S. Commissioner of Education. Tigert was a native of Tennessee and the son and grandson of Methodist bishops. After receiving his bachelor's degree, he earned his master's degree as a Rhodes Scholar.
  After completing his education, Tigert taught at Central College; served as the president of Kentucky Wesleyan College; and worked as a professor, sports coach and administrator at the University of Kentucky.
  Tigert gained his greatest national prominence as the U.S. Commissioner of Education from 1921 to 1928, and the third president of the University of Florida, from 1928 to 1947. He is remembered as a forceful advocate for American public education, intercollegiate sports and university curriculum reform.
context_section_description: Tigert was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1882, the third son of a Methodist Episcopal minister, John James Tigert III, and his wife, Amelia McTyeire Tigert, the daughter of Methodist Bishop and Vanderbilt University co-founder Holland N. McTyeire.  Tigert received his primary education in the public schools of Kansas City, Missouri, and Nashville, and earned his high school diploma, with honors, from the Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tennessee.
caption: Tigert as Vanderbilt football player in 1903
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