Dr. James Woodward Strong (September 29, 1833 - February 24, 1913), an American theologian and scholar, was the first president of Carleton College, Minnesota.

Despite lifelong illness and injury, Strong was a highly active man throughout his life, juggling multiple professional and personal occupations.

[1] Despite ill health as a child, James began his working life at the age of fourteen with a yearlong assistantship in a printing office.

In 1858, James served in the telegraph office in Madison, and at the same time he was a legislative reporter for Milwaukee newspapers.

Ordained as Congregationalist minister, he preached first in Brodhead, Wisconsin for two years, and then in Faribault, Minnesota beginning in 1865.

The Congregational Church in Minnesota had established a college in the nearby town of Northfield in 1866, and in 1870, Strong was invited to become its first president.

It was operating out of an old hotel, the construction of its new building stalled due to inadequate materials and a lack of funds.

The trustees were convinced Strong was the man to provide the leadership to improve the college's reputation and financial status, so they made him a more generous offer and this time he accepted.