In 1846 Dr. Richard Owen Currey, MD, became professor of chemistry, experimental philosophy, and natural history at the university. He introduced laboratory instruction in botany and modernized science education. He supplemented his income by practicing medicine and publishing an almanac. He left the university in 1850 for a better paying post at the University of Nashville. Currey studied theology, and in 1859 became pastor of Lebanon-in-the-Forks Presbyterian Church. He also operated the Daughter’s College Institute and populated the school’s grounds with nude statues to assist young women to learn more about human anatomy. In 1861 he entered the Confederate service as a chaplain-surgeon and died in 1865 while caring for Union prisoners in a disease-infested hospital in North Carolina.