Emory William Hunt was born in East Clarence, New York, in 1862. He graduated from the University of Rochester in 1884 and from Crozer Theological Seminary in 1887. Following his ordination, he served as pastor of the Ashland Avenue Baptist Church of Toledo, Ohio, until 1900 when he became pastor of the Clarendon Street Baptsit Church in Boston. In 1902, he became President of Denison University in Ohio, where he remained until his resignation in1913, when he became the general secretary of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society. In 1915, Rev. Hunt became pastor of the Newton Centre Baptist Church in Massachusetts. Upon the resignation of President Harris in 1919, Rev. Hunt became President of Buckell University serving for twelve years until his retirement in 1931. During his presidency, he oversaw the development of a system that placed the regulation of academic matters under the control of faculty committees so that the faculty was given "...virtual control of the academic policy." He died in Lewisburg on May 20, 1938. He is buried in the Lewisburg Cemetery.

The major source for the information on this page is Memorials of Bucknell University, 1919-1931 (MBU '19-'31).