Yale, Elihu

Yale, Elihu (1649-1721), English businessman and colonial administrator, born in Boston. The son of an American colonist who returned to England in 1651, Yale was educated in London. About 1670 he went to Madras, India, as an employee of the East India Company. Rising rapidly in the company's service, he became governor of Fort St George at Madras in 1687. He amassed a considerable fortune in private trade. A scandal touching Yale's administration caused his removal as governor in 1692; he returned to England in 1699 and became a governor of the East India Company. Between 1714 and 1721, Yale bestowed books and other goods on the Collegiate School in Saybrook (now Old Saybrook), Connecticut. They constituted the largest private gift ever made to a college up to that time. In 1716 the school moved to New Haven, Connecticut. Two years later it was renamed Yale College in honour of its benefactor, and in 1887 it officially became Yale University.