170 LIFE AND WORK OF Da. A. A. MURPHREE
Dr. Murphrec entered intimately into the life of many persons as the
head of a growing university. He was friend and counsellor to a
great body of men who had passed from, or were still in the halls of
the university, facing or preparing to face the stern tasks of life, and
he left an impress upon them that will last as long as they live Friend-
ship with him was a prize of living. He was a gentleman always of
culture, of honor and of enobling purpose. To know him was to feel
the touch of devoutness, of earnestes, of kindness and of that most
nearly perfect outlook on life. The influence of Dr. Murphree, the
man, upon those whom he knew-and they were numbered far beyond
the usual range of acquaintancesahip-was that of encouragement to
seek the enduring emoluments, thee that surpass temporal satisfac-
tion. One could not meet Dr. Murphree without feeling a stronger
grip upon himself and without being conscious of a more determined
conviction that character counts and honor triumphs. He wanted to
win on the football field, he sought the victories in the combats of the
day, but he wanted to win fairly and to record the successes of in-
tegrity. It was to him a source of great pride that the University of
Florida was acquiring from coast to coast an enviable reputation for
fairness on the field of athletic contest and in the grades of learning.
 Dr. Murphree's contributions were not limited to the state of his
adoption. He was at the time of his death the president of a national
association of university presidents, which carried the fame of his
accomplishment far beyond the scene of his labors. His influence in
the South was ever widening. The recognition came to him on the
ground of undoubted merit.
 Dr. Murphree's great contribution was the building of a university
that ranks with the best in the land. The institution is still young,
but it has made its mark due to his energy and foresight. He gave it
a momentum that will carry it to new heights and place it second to
no other institution in standards and thoroughness. The University
of Florida is an epitome of Dr. Murphree's service. He helped to
place education in Florida upon a higher footing and he did it through
a period of strenuous endeavor. The university received its great im-
petus at his hands. The common schools benefited to a correspond-
ing degree as the need for education was shown and the course of
procedure was marked. The university was assured of an expansion
coincident and in the fullest measure with the growth of the state.
It was not Dr. Murphree's ambition merely to build a monumental in-
stitution of stone and mortar, to which thousands of students might