Francis Marion Kinard

Francis Marion Kinard was a professor of English, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, and Dean of the College at Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina. He died suddenly in 1960. Kinard Laboratory of Physics, previously Kinard Annex, is named in his honor.

Background

Kinard was born June 2, 1902 at Epworth, South Carolina in Greenwood County. His father was Drayton Tucker Kinard, and his mother was Janie McCollum Dew.

Kinard married Anna Rice Sloan (born July 2, 1903 - http://files.usgwarchives.net/sc/oconee/cemeteries/c243a.txt) on August 19, 1925. They had one child, Frances Margaret Kinard, born May 20, 1926. (Brøderbund Family Archive #110, Vol. 1, Ed. 4, Social Security Death Index: U.S., Social Security Death Index, Surnames from A through L.)(http://www.famgen.net/sc/fam01875.htm.)

Anna Rice Sloan Kinard died on December 17, 1944. (http://files.usgwarchives.net/sc/oconee/cemeteries/c243a.txt)

Kinard remarried on June 24, 1950, when he wed Elizabeth Lake Jones. (Brøderbund Family Archive #110, Vol. 1, Ed. 4, Social Security Death Index: U.S., Social Security Death Index, Surnames from A through L.) (http://www.famgen.net/sc/fam01876.htm)

Kinard received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wofford College in 1923, and became a professor of English there. He earned his Master of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina in 1929. He did graduate work at UNC in the summer of 1930. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Literature by Wofford College in 1944 ("The Clemson Agricultural Record, 1958-1959, Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina, Volume 66, page 12)(http://www.wofford.edu/library/archives/content.aspx?id=30864) for his excellent teaching and disciplinary leadership. (Reel, Jerome V., "The High Seminary: A History of the Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina Volume 1", Clemson University Digital Press at the Center for Electronic and Digital Publishing, Clemson University, South Carolina, 2011, ISBN 978-0-9842598-9-2, page 417.)

Clemson service

From 1943 to August 1955, he served at Clemson as dean of the School of Arts and Sciences (then General Science). "He understood the importance of faculty receiving doctoral degrees for advanced teaching and research and to raise the reputation of Clemson. He slowly produced such a faculty." (Reel, Jerome V., "The High Seminary: A History of the Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina Volume 1", Clemson University Digital Press at the Center for Electronic and Digital Publishing, Clemson University, South Carolina, 2011, ISBN 978-0-9842598-9-2, pages 372-373.)

In the massive restructuring of Clemson in 1956, the Board of Trustees selected Kinard as dean of the college. "He had already proven himself a skillful leader and negotiator and was highly respected for his integrity. His greatest concern was for his faculty (particularly the younger of them) to have time to complete their doctoral degrees." (Reel, Jerome V., "The High Seminary: A History of the Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina Volume 1", Clemson University Digital Press at the Center for Electronic and Digital Publishing, Clemson University, South Carolina, 2011, ISBN 978-0-9842598-9-2, page 417.) Also, "the graduate school, which showed signs of expansion, was placed under Dean Kinard, who tackled the program vigorously." (Reel, page 421.)

Death

Dean Kinard died unexpectedly on May 25, 1960. (Reel, page 456.)

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