Joshua A. Lippincott was born in 1837 in Burlington County, New Jersey and received his degree from Pennsylvania's Dickenson College in 1858. After serving as an academy instructor, superintendent of Pennsylvania schools, and as a Methodist minister, he returned to his alma mater as a professor of mathematics. It was here that the Kansas Board of Regents found their next chancellor.

During Lippincott's tenure as KU Chancellor, several changes were made to the university. Majors were introduced as a means of directing a course of study; construction began on a new building for the Natural History Department; and the Preparatory Department stopped admitting students. A pious man, he believed the University was responsible for training students in Christian living, and in 1885 he managed to remove the outspoken free-thinker Kate Stephens from her position on the faculty. Lippincott did not attract many other conflicts.

Joshua Lippincott resigned from the chancellorship on February 28th, 1889 because he wished to become the pastor for the First United Methodist Church in Topeka, KS.