Washington College is a private liberal arts college in Chestertown, Maryland, which is on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The college was founded in 1782 by William Smith, but is the successor institution to the earlier Kent County Free School, which was founded in 1732. Modern college classes – freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior – were introduced in the 1870s by President William Rivers. At the same time, a class called sub-freshmen was created for students who did not meet the requirements to be freshmen. The college continued to admit sub-freshmen to the preparatory department until 1924.

Washington College experienced major fires in 1827 and 1916 that destroyed most of the school's records. Because of this, it is impossible to know how many students graduated before 1916, nor in which years people graduated. However, it is known that 218 students graduated between 1845 and 1903, and, that in 1910, the college had 113 students enrolled. The college has continued to grow. In 1952, the college more than doubled its enrollment, to 350 students. Between the 1950s and 1970s, the college doubled its enrollment again, to 800 students in 1972. Since the 1970s, the college has close to doubled the 1972 enrollment, with 1,480 students enrolled in 2019.

Alumni of Washington College includes two governors of Maryland, a governor of Delaware, four United States senators, seven members of the United States House of Representatives, and nine state senators. Nine alumni played at least one game in Major League Baseball, including Jake Flowers, who was on two World Series-winning teams. John Emory, the namesake of Emory University and Emory and Henry College, graduated from Washington College. Several alumni have been successful writers, including James M. Cain. Mary Adele France, who was the first president of St. Mary's College of Maryland, and Robert K. Crane, who discovered sodium-glucose cotransport, both found success in academia. H. Lawrence Culp Jr. is the CEO of Danaher Corporation and the CEO of General Electric.

A "?" indicates that the year of graduation is unknown. "A "" indicates the final year that a non-graduating alumnus attended the college. An "M" indicates a master's alumnus.

Academics

+ Washington College alumni who are notable for their contributions to higher education Name Class year Notability 1900 First president of St Mary's College of Maryland 1972 Professor at the University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development 1980 Professor of Psychology at the University of Bristol 1937 Pyrotechnic chemist and president of Washington College. He was the first alumnus to hold the position of president at the college. 1961 Chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine at Duke University

Arts and entertainment

+ Washington College alumni who are notable for their contributions to the arts or as entertainers Name Class year Notability 2001 Visual artist 1910 Writer of The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity and Mildred Pierce 2002 M Poet 1990 Writer 1978 Actress who portrayed Sarah Connor in The Terminator 1992 Game designer, Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies, author of A Theory of Fun for Game Design 1990 Poet 1983 Actress who portrayed Cynthia Patrice Bishop in Sex, Lies, and Videotape and Maya Gallo in Just Shoot Me!

Athletics

+ Washington College alumni who are notable for their contributions to sports or athletics Name Class year Notability 1894 Pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies 1960 Pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles ? Second baseman and shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals, Brooklyn Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds 1956 Head coach of Maryland Terrapins men's lacrosse and Professor of English 1936 Right fielder for the Philadelphia Athletics, Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies 1897 Center fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds ? Pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Senators, and Cleveland Naps ? Shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies ? Second baseman for the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, and Philadelphia Athletics ? Catcher for the New York Giants and St. Louis Cardinals

Law and government

+ Washington College alumni who are notable for their contributions to law or politics Name Class year Notability 1960 Maryland state senator (1979–2003)1955 Member of the Maryland House of Delegates (1991–1999) ? Suffragette and Carnegie Medal awardee 1864 President of the Maryland Senate and U.S. representative for (1893–1894) 1805 United States senator (1826–1834) ? U.S. representative for (1847–1849) and (1861–1864) 1995 Member of the Houston City Council (2012–2020) 1931 Maryland state senator (1955–1971)1974 Maryland state senator (2011–2015) and judge on the Maryland Court of Appeals ? U.S. representative for (1885–1891) and United States senator for Maryland (1891–1897) 1984 Maryland state senator (2011–2015) and Harford County county executive 1899 U.S. representative for (1921–1939) and United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia1935 Maryland state senator (1947–1958) and comptroller of Maryland (1959–1998)1929 Maryland state senator (1953–1955)Melat Kiros2018Democratic nominee for Colorado's 1st congressional district (2026).1970 Member of the Maryland House of Delegates (1983–1991) 1952 Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware 1952 Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates and judge on the Maryland Court of Special Appeals 1962 Speaker pro tempore of the West Virginia House of Delegates ? Judge on the Maryland Court of Appeals ? Baltimore political boss 1828 U.S. representative for (1855–1859) 1903 Maryland state senator (1923–1935; 1939–1943) and U.S. representative for (1945–1947)1970 New York state senator (1985–2015) and felon 1795 24th governor of Maryland ? United States senator for Maryland (1868–1873) ? Speaker of the Delaware Senate and 49th governor of Delaware ? Member of the Maryland House of Delegates (1856) and judge on the Maryland Second Circuit ? United States senator for Maryland (1801–1806), 12th governor of Maryland, and U.S. representative for (1810–1817; 1821–1823)

Other

+ Washington College alumni who are notable for their contributions to other fields Name Class year Notability 1991 M 28th adjutant general of Maryland 1935 President of Bell Labs (1973–1979) 1962 First Lady of Virginia and founder of Virginia Literacy Foundation 1942 Biochemist who discovered sodium-glucose cotransport 1985 CEO of GE Aerospace and CEO of Danaher Corporation 1866 President of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers 1805 Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church 1981 Biochemist and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling 1976 M Nurse and civil rights activist ? United States Coast and Geodetic Survey and United States Navy captain 1799 Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland 1900; 1904 M Episcopal priest1938 US Army colonel who was twice awarded the Distinguished Service Cross1917 US Marine Corps lieutenant general 1987 Correspondent for CNN International 1802 Episcopal Priest and eleventh President of the College of William and Mary

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