Bennett Harvie Branscomb (December 25, 1894 – July 23, 1998) was an American theologian and academic administrator. He served as the fourth chancellor of Vanderbilt University, a private university in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1946 to 1963. Prior to his appointment at Vanderbilt, he was the director of the Duke University Libraries and dean of the Duke Divinity School. Additionally, he served as a professor of Christian theology at Southern Methodist University. He was the author of several books about New Testament theology. Early life Branscomb was born on December 25, 1894, in Huntsville, Alabama. His father, Lewis C. Branscomb, was a Methodist minister and the president of the Alabama Anti-Saloon League. His mother was Nancy McAdory. Branscomb earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Birmingham-Southern College in 1914. He was a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford's Wadham College, where he earned another Bachelor of Arts degree in 1917 and a distinguished master's degree in biblical studies, receiving a coveted Greek prize and First Honors in Theology. He joined the United States Army and was stationed at Fort Gordon during World War I, and he earned a PhD from Columbia University in 1924. While a student at Oxford during WWI, Branscomb was a student volunteer with the Commission for Relief in Belgium. Through German lines, Branscomb and fellow student Oliver Carmichael smuggled a politically sensitive letter from Cardinal Mercier to Belgian priests recounting the killing of priests and urging resistance to the German invasion. The students hid the letter in a newspaper as they approached the German checkpoint. As Carmichael was searched by the guards, Branscomb discretely set the newspaper on a table behind him. Then as Branscomb was searched, Carmichael casually picked up the paper as the two were cleared and left the guard house. Three days later the letter was published in The London Times. Belgium awarded Branscomb and Carmichael the Médaille du Roi Albert and the Médaille de la Reine Élisabeth for their bravery. Both men later served as Chancellor of Vanderbilt University. Career Branscomb began his career as an instructor in the department of philosophy at Southern Methodist University. He became a professor of New Testament literature at Duke University in 1925. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1930–1931 to study in Berlin and Marburg, Germany. He was the director of the Duke University Libraries from 1933 to 1941, He served as Dean of