| 1869 |
Born in Doune, Perthshire, Scotland, March 28 |
| 1882-1886 |
Attended Montrose Academy |
| 1886-1891 |
Studied at the University of Edinburgh, received M.A. |
| 1891 |
Immigrated with family to Canada |
| 1891-1895 |
Resident English Master, Upper Canada College, Toronto |
| 1895-1898 |
Graduate work in English, Harvard University, M.A. (1897), Ph.D. (1898) |
| 1898-1901 |
Associate Professor of English Literature, Bryn Mawr College |
| 1901-1904 |
Instructor of English, Harvard University |
| 1904-1906 |
Professor of English, Columbia University |
| 1905 |
Became American citizen |
| 1906-1917 |
Professor of English, Harvard University |
| 1906 |
Married Elisabeth Muser in Offenburg, Germany, June 25 |
| 1914-1915 |
Exchange Professor, University of Paris |
| 1917-1939 |
President of Smith College |
| 1920-1946 |
Trustee, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Education
Served intermittently on the College Entrance Examination Board
|
| 1921 |
Initiated Special Honors program at Smith College |
| 1924 |
President, Modern Language Association |
| 1924-1945 |
Editorial Board of G.C. Merriam and Company |
| 1925 |
Started Junior Year Abroad program at Smith College |
| 1926-1946 |
Advisory Council, the Open Road, Inc. |
| 1930-1946 |
Board of Directors, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People |
| 1940-1941 |
Board of Directors, National Refugee Service |
| 1940-1945 |
Chair, Executive Committee, Commission to Study the Organization of Peace |
| 1941 |
Presided over the International Student Service Summer Student Leadership Institute at Campobello, New Brunswick |
| 1942 |
Board of Overseers, Harvard University |
| 1943 |
Chair, |
| 1946 |
Died in Northampton, Massachusetts, February 13 |
