Preceded by Charles Seymour Education Yale University (1933) Relations Eli Whitney (ancestor) | Name Alfred Griswold Books Essays on Education Role Historian | |
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Born October 27, 1906
Morristown, New Jersey
United States ( 1906-10-27 ) Died April 19, 1963, New Haven, Connecticut, United States Awards Guggenheim Fellowship for Humanities, US & Canada | ||
Succeeded by Kingman Brewster, Jr. | ||
Alfred Whitney Griswold (October 27, 1906 – April 19, 1963), who went by his second given name, was an American historian and educator. He served as 16th President of Yale University from 1951 to 1963, during which he built much of Yale's modern scientific research infrastructure, especially on Science Hill.
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Early life
Griswold was born in Morristown, New Jersey, the son of Elsie Montgomery (Whitney) and Harold Ely Griswold. He graduated from Hotchkiss School in 1925, before obtaining his B.A. from Yale University in 1929, where he edited campus humor magazine The Yale Record.
Griswold was a descendant, on his mother's side, of Eli Whitney, and of six colonial governors of Connecticut on his father's side. As an undergraduate, Griswold, along with a handful of students and faculty members, founded the Yale Political Union.
Career
He taught English for a year, then changed to history, which he taught at Yale from 1933, becoming an assistant professor in 1938, an associate professor in 1942, and a full professor in 1947. Griswold received a Ph.D. in the new field of History, the Arts and Letters, writing the first dissertation in American Studies in 1933. The American cult of success was the dissertation's subject, informed in part by Griswold's brief time on Wall Street between his graduation and the stock market crash of 1929. Griswold authored The Far Eastern Policy of the United States (1938), Farming and Democracy (1948), Essays on Education (1954), In the University Tradition (1957), and Liberal Education and the Democratic Ideal (1959). Although Griswold was not a specialist in foreign affairs, his 1938 book on Far Eastern policy was an elegantly written and vigorous survey which for many years was the most influential work in the field.
President of Yale University
In 1951, Griswold became President of Yale University, serving until his death in 1963. Griswold was unaware of his imminent rise to the presidency. The day of his elevation, he told his wife, "Thank God we're not in that racket," after they had lunched with a friend, the president of Mount Holyoke College. As president, Griswold is credited with tripling the university endowment to $375 million, building 26 new buildings and establishing research fellowships for young scholars, particularly in the sciences. He was arguably Yale's first modern president, and was widely quoted in the national media for his views on foreign affairs, amateur athletics, academic freedom, and in defense of the liberal arts against government intrusion. Griswold also worked in successful collaboration with Nathan Pusey, his counterpart at Harvard, to maintain amateurism in athletics among universities known now as the Ivy League.
The decision to create the eleventh and twelfth residential colleges at Yale, known as Morse College and Ezra Stiles College, was made by Griswold. In 1952, he established Masters of Arts programs in teaching, affiliated with the traditional liberal arts departments. During World War II he headed special U.S. Army training programs in languages and civil affairs.
Ben Kiernan is the current A. Whitney Griswold Professor of History at Yale.
Quotes
On ideas and the banishment of books:
Books won't stay banned. They won't burn. Ideas won't go to jail. In the long run of history, the censor and the inquisitor have always lost. The only sure weapon against bad ideas is better ideas. The source of better ideas is wisdom. The surest path to wisdom is a liberal education. —Alfred Whitney Griswold, "Essays on Education,"
On coeducation at Yale:
Personal life
Griswold was married to Mary Brooks (1906–1997). His former home, at 237 East Rock Road in New Haven, is a contributing property in the Prospect Hill Historic District.
Griswold died of colon cancer in New Haven, Connecticut, and is buried in Grove Street Cemetery.