As the Hopkins trustees debated their first steps in establishing a world-class university, President Daniel Coit Gilman commented: “Enlist a great mathematician and a distinguished Grecian. Your problem will be solved.” JAMES JOSEPH SYLVESTER, one of the foremost of British mathematicians and author of the groundbreaking theory of invariants, was soon recruited, joining Professor of Greek Basil L. Gildersleeve. While he stayed at Hopkins only seven years, Professor Sylvester had a profound effect on academia in America, having introduced the study of the higher branches of pure mathematics.
