"An Ohio farm boy, born in 1860, Sparks worked his way through Ohio State University as a cub reporter on the Ohio State Journal. After graduation, he was a teacher and principal of public schools in Ohio until 1890, when he came to Penn State as principal of the preparatory department. Five years later he went to the University of Chicago where he obtained a Ph.D. and, in time, became a professor of American history there. A prolific author and speaker, he was active in the development of that University's extension services. This background, and his fine record earlier at Penn State, led the trustees to offer him the presidency. At the age of 48, he became the eighth President on condition that he would have a free hand to develop the institution with the scope and character to meet "the special requirement and aptitude of every young man and woman in the state of Pennsylvania."