A native of Huntsville, Alabama, Branscomb graduated from Birmingham-Southern College at age 19. He won a Rhodes scholarship, and entered Wadham College, Oxford University. When WWI erupted, he joined the U.S. Commission for the Relief of Belgium, and was awarded a medal for his work. After receiving a B.A. in Theology from Oxford, Branscomb returned to the United States in 1917 and served in the army until 1919. He then filled the post of professor of the New Testament at Southern Methodist University until 1925, during which time he received his Ph.D. from Columbia University. He then went to Duke University, where he served as Director of the University Libraries, Chairman of the Division of Ancient Languages and Literature, and Dean of the Divinity School. Branscomb came to Vanderbilt as Chancellor in 1946. After his retirement in 1963, Chancellor Emeritus Branscomb served as educational adviser to the World Bank, chairman of the U.S. Commission for UNESCO, and chairman of several other government delegations. He died on July 24, 1998 at the age of 103.