In 1883 he purchased land for the site of the Anglo-Chinese College which he served as president from its opening in 1885 until his resignation in 1895 because of impaired health. He was instrumental in founding the McTyeire Home and School (McTyeire School for Girls, where the Soong sisters attended before they attended Wesleyan College) which opened in 1892 with Miss Laura Haygood, sister of his old friend and Emory classmate, Atticus Haygood, as its head. He also founded the Dongwu University (now Suzhou University) in Suzhou, and later integrated the Anglo-Chinese College into it as a result of Dongwu's lack of teachers and students. The missions of his church to Japan and Korea were influenced by the success of his educational work in Shanghai.