On June 18, 1879, John M. McBryde, graduate of South Carolina College was elected to the position of “Professor of Agriculture and Horticulture, including Botany.” At the time of his election, he was engaged in practical farming in Albemarle County, Virginia, where his experiments in the field of scientific agriculture had led to his association with the Miller School of the University of Virginia.
At UT he began the program of agricultural experimentation that led in 1882 to the establishment of the Agricultural Experiment Station, and he made available the results of his experiments to farmers throughout the state. He left the university in 1882 to accept a post at South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina), where he rose to president. He was twice offered the presidency of UT. He agreed to accept UT’s presidency in September 1886 if elected at the January board meeting, but changed his mind prior to the meeting. In 1887, after passage of the Hatch Act, he expressed interest and was formally elected president of the University of Tennessee and director of the experiment station in April 1887. In June 1887, however, he resigned the position before he had been inducted into office. He became president of what is now Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1891, remaining there 16 years.