Cummings, Byron, A.M.

Dean of the College of Medicine 1907-1911. Byron Cummings was born in Westville, N.Y. September 20, 1861. He received his A.B degree in 1889 and the M.A. degree in 1892 at Rutgers College. He came to the University of Utah in 1893 as Instructor in Latin and English and he became an Assistant Professor of Latin and Greek in 1894 and Professor of Ancient Languages and Literature in 1895. He became the first Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in 1906 and the Medical School in 1907. He was very interested in archeology and organized a number of expeditions to the ancient ruins in Southern Utah. He was also very interested in athletics at the University, serving as a charter member of the University of Utah Athletic Association. He was one of the seventeen members of the faculty to resign in 1915 after which he went to the University of Arizona as Professor of Archeology and Director of the Museum from 1915-1937, Dean of the School of Arts, Letters and Sciences from 1917-1921 and Acting President 1921 and 1927-28. Byron Cummings died in 1954 at the age of 93. (Chamberlin, Ralph V., University of Utah, Salt Lake City, University of Utah, 1960 pp.585-586) He was one of the first white men to discover Rainbow Bridge.