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Louis T. Benezet MA ’39

Louis Benezet MA ’39, January 24, 2002, in Mill Valley, California. He was a former college president and widely respected educator. Prior to attending Reed, he earned a BA from Dartmouth College, and in 1942 he earned a PhD from Columbia University. He was director of admission at Knox College, assistant to the dean of University College at Syracuse University, and assistant to the Chancellor at Syracuse University before becoming president of Allegheny College in 1948. He served as president of Colorado College from 1955 to 1963, president of Claremont Graduate School from 1963 to 1970, and president of SUNY Albany from 1970 to 1975. In 1975, he became research professor and consultant at SUNY Stony Brook, retiring in 1985. During his career, he served on numerous commissions, including the California Governor’s Commission on Tax Reform, the New York Governor’s Task Force on Financing Higher Education, and the Rhodes Scholar Selection Committee. He wrote a number of articles and several books on issues of democracy, higher education, and human dignity, including Style and Substance: Leadership and the College Presidency, published in 1981. His most recent work, Restoring America’s Failed Democracy, was published in 2000 by Higganum Hill Books. In 1992, the Foster-Scholtz Club presented him with the distinguished service award for his contributions to higher education. After the death of his wife, Mildred Twohy ’40, from cancer in 1977, he established the Twohy Benezet Lecture Fund at Reed College. Survivors include four daughters and four grandchildren.

Appeared in Reed magazine: May 2002

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