He worked for the next two years teaching at Southwestern Academy in Magnolia, Arkansas, to earn money to go to law school.

[1] There, he developed a close friendship with Tom Connally and Morris Sheppard of Texas, who both became politicians and were later elected as U.S. senators from the state.

After receiving his law degree and passing the bar, on May 31, 1899, Neff married Baylor classmate Myrtle Mainer in her hometown of Lovelady.

During his tenure, a number of reforms were carried out such as new labor laws,[2] the organization of cooperative marketing associations to assist farmers with selling their commodities,[3] and higher funding for vocational and rural schools.

During the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan during his administration, Neff was criticized for not taking a stronger stance.

The Republican nominee, George C. Butte, an American jurist who had opposed James Ferguson's line item veto of the 1917 University of Texas appropriations bill, had a stronger than usual showing.

[5] After the death of Samuel Palmer Brooks, Neff was nominated to replace him as President of Baylor University.