A native of North Carolina, the ninth president of the university (1860–62, as East Tennessee University) had held pastorates in several Tennessee towns before becoming president on June 14, 1860. In his first year, enrollment was substantially up (to 110). Tuition was raised, new professors were employed, and a janitor was hired. The university catalog proclaimed that he would govern students “by the law of kindness and affection.” Following the firing on Fort Sumter in April 1861, the university opened for the fall term with a substantially reduced enrollment. In January 1862 university buildings were taken over by Confederate troops. Shortly afterward, Ridley, a Confederate sympathizer, resigned to return to North Carolina. He subsequently served as a pastor in Milledgeville, Georgia.
Joseph R. Ridley