Abbott Lawrence Lowell (1856-1943), American educator, born in Boston, and educated at Harvard University and Harvard Law School. He practiced law in Boston from 1880 to 1897, when he became a lecturer in political science at Harvard. He was appointed professor in 1900 and nine years later became president of the university. Among the administrative reforms he introduced were general examinations given in their major subject to candidates for the baccalaureate degrees, the institution of the tutoring system for upperclassmen, and the establishment of a house plan, comprising residential units similar to those in British universities. In 1927 Lowell was appointed by Massachusetts Governor Alvin Tufts Fuller as a member of a committee to advise the governor with regard to the Sacco-Vanzetti case. The opinion rendered by this committee was that the defendants had had a fair trial and had been justly convicted. Lowell retired from the presidency of Harvard in 1933. He was a strong supporter of American participation in the League of Nations. His writings include Essays on Government (1889), Conflicts of Principle (1932), and What a University President Has Learned (1938).