Archibald Lewis Bouton was born on September 1, 1872 in Cortland, New York. He received his A.B. from Amherst in 1896 and his M.A. from Columbia in 1900. He first came to New York University in 1898 as an instructor of English. In 1901 he became an assistant professor, and then a full professor in 1905. In 1914 Bouton became head of the English department and also the Dean of the College of Arts and Pure Science.

In 1916 Bouton took a year's leave of absence to study at Harvard. Marshall S. Brown took over his duties as Dean for this time. Bouton used his summers to be a guest lecturer at various schools: the University of California in 1925, and the University of Colorado in 1927-1930.

In 1919 Bouton wrote a pamphlet entitled "The Colleges and Americanism." Here he set forth the idea that American institutions of higher learning had to inculcate values of "Americanism" in their students. To do so, it was first necessary to find a specific "type" of student who could maintain a high level of academic performance. This pamphlet written by Bouton and the subsequent actions of University Administration led to the creation of the selective admissions policy at University College in 1919. A policy of selective admissions was without precedent in the United States, and called for the taking of a psychological test, an appearance before a personnel board and an oath of loyalty before a student could be admitted at the University Heights College.

From 1931-1932, Arthur Hill became Acting Dean while Bouton travelled abroad. Bouton had earlier (1923-1924) taken a sabbatical, leaving Perley Thorne to act as Dean in his absence. Finally in 1935, Bouton was forced to take another leave, this time for health reasons. Arthur Hill again stepped in for him until Irving Berg was appointed Dean in 1936.

Once recovered, Bouton concentrated on his teaching and became the Director of the Elmer Ellsworth Brown House for English Studies. Bouton died on April 18, 1941 (in Pasadena, California) after having been Dean of University College for twenty-one years, Acting Dean of the Graduate School for 1925-1927, and a teacher for forty-three years.

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