he had promoted, Branscomb's recommendation to integrate the remainder of the university programs was adopted at the Trustees' Meeting in May,1962, chaired by Board President H.S. Vanderbilt. At the time of Branscomb's retirement in 1963, all of Vanderbilt's schools, colleges, eating facilities, and dormitories were integrated. In a speech at Vanderbilt Medical Center in 2006, Rev. Lawson expressed appreciation to the late Chancellor for taking the bold step of integrating Vanderbilt when almost all Southern universities were still segregated. During Branscomb's tenure, at least 18 new buildings were erected on the Vanderbilt campus, the number of fulltime faculty doubled, faculty salaries almost tripled and the endowment went from $38 million to $88 million. At the time he retired, the university was ranked for the first time among the country's top 20 private universities. Branscomb served as first chairman of the United States Advisory Commission for Education Exchange from 1947 to 1951. From 1955 to 1958 he served as Commission on Education and International Affairs of the American Council of Education. From 1963 to 1964 he was an educational consultant for the World Bank, and he chaired the United States Commission for UNESCO from 1963 to 1965. He also served as vice-chairman of the United States delegation to the Unesco General Conference in Paris in 1964, chair of the United States Delegation to the World Conference on the Eradication of Illiteracy in Tehran in 1965. He traveled to Geneva for the United States Delegation to the World Health Organization Assembly in 1965 and 1966, and to Buenos Aires to chair the U.S. Delegation to the Conference of Ministers of Education and Ministers in Charge of Planning in 1966. Branscomb was the author of several books about New Testament theology. He was the president of the National Association of Biblical Instructors (later known as the American Academy of Religion) in 1940. He served on the commission on church and war of the Federal Council of Churches, and on the American theological committee of the World Council of Churches. Branscomb served on the board of directors of the Association of Rhodes Scholars, and he was the editor of the American Oxonian in the 1940s. He was also on the board of the American Council of Learned Societies. Branscomb served on the editorial board of the South Atlantic Quarterly. He held honorary degrees from Brandeis University, Northwestern University, Southwestern University, and Hebrew Union College.