Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. On August 10, 1859, William Ruggles had $500 allocated to establish the fund for the Ruggles Prize for excellence in Mathematics at George Washington University and the award continues to this day. It is a testament to the character and generosity of Professor Ruggles that the initial $500 in funds used as the foundation for the award were derived from a portion of the unpaid salary and interest owed to him by the college at that time. Although the university did start awarding gold medals to Ruggles Prize winners, due to the financial condition of the university at the time, it was not until after the Attorney General''s office conducted an extensive audit of university finances in 1910 that the $500 was transferred from the general fund to a separate fund specifically for the Ruggles Prize. The first record of Ruggles Prizes winners that is available is the 1874 Columbian College Catalogue which notes that gold medals were awarded in 1873 to Charles H. Thompson, of New Jersey, and to William Johnson, of West Virginia.