Records of Edward McShane Waits, 1906-1950 (inclusive), 1925-1940 (bulk).

Edward McShane Waits was born on April 29, 1871 in Cynthiana, Kentucky.  Waits attended Kentucky Wesleyan College and then graduated from the College of the Bible of Transylvania University with a B.A. in 1896.  In 1898, he married Sarah Wooten, who died in 1915.  They had one daughter, Mary Elizabeth Waits. 

Waits began his career as a minister of the Disciples of Christ church in Fulton, Kentucky in 1896.  In 1902 he became pastor of a church in El Paso, Texas before moving to Fort Worth to serve as minister of Magnolia Avenue Christian Church in 1906.  In 1910 he became involved in Texas Christian University, serving as secretary of the Board of Trustees from 1910 to 1916 as well as a member of the Advisory Committee to the Board from 1911 to 1916. 

Waits resigned as pastor of Magnolia Avenue Christian Church in 1916 in order to accept a pastor position in California, but instead he accepted the Board of Trustee's offer of the presidency of TCU.  He served as president of the university until his retirement in 1941.  Overall, he presided over a period of growth for the university, including paying off the university's debt, securing its endowment, increasing the property value, securing the Mary Couts Burnett Trust of almost $3 million, increasing student registrations, increasing the number of faculty members, and instituting faculty tenure.

Among his honorary titles were Doctor of Laws degrees from Transylvania University (1923), TCU (1923), and Austin College in Sherman, Texas (1924).  In 1929, he wrote A College Man's Religion.  Waits retired in 1941 and received the title of Professor Emeritus.  The E.M. Waits Dormitory was named in his honor in 1947.  Edward McShane Waits died on December 26, 1949 after a long illness.