Harold Dodds
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Harold Willis Dodds (June 28, 1889 – October 25, 1980) was the fifteenth president of Princeton University from 1933 to 1957.


Early life and education

Dodds was born on June 28, 1889, in Utica, Pennsylvania, the son of a professor of Bible studies at
Grove City College Grove City College (GCC) is a private, conservative Christian liberal arts college in Grove City, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1876 as a normal school, the college emphasizes a humanities core curriculum and offers 60 majors and 6 pre-profession ...
. After receiving his bachelor's degree at Grove City College in 1909 and teaching public school for two years, he received his MA at Princeton in 1914 and his PhD, in political science, at the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
in 1917. After receiving his PhD, he married Margaret Murray.


Before joining Princeton faculty

Dodds served in the U.S. Food Administration during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.Presidents of Princeton
/ref> After the war, he taught at
Western Reserve University Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...
, then became the secretary of the
National Municipal League The National Civic League is an American nonpartisan, non-profit organization founded in 1894 with a mission to advance civic engagement to create equitable, thriving communities. The League envisions a country where the full diversity of communi ...
until 1928. In this position, he met
Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American statesman, politician and jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the ...
, who was president of the league at that time. Hughes introduced him to electoral problems in Latin America. Dodds soon became an advisor to the president of
Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...
, helping to draft the electoral law of 1923 and supervise elections in 1928, and also became involved in the electoral law of other Latin American nations.


At Princeton

In 1925, Dodds joined Princeton as a professor of politics and became a full professor in 1927. In 1930, he was appointed the first chair of the School of Public and International Affairs, which is now commonly known as the
Woodrow Wilson School The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (formerly the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school provides an array of comprehensive course ...
. He was appointed president of the university in 1933 during the midst of the Great Depression, and continued serving until 1957. He was very popular throughout his tenure."The Quiet One"
''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'', 6 July 1953. Accessed 28 May 2008.
During Dodds's tenure, the university faced many hardships. The Great Depression caused great financial uncertainty, leading Dodds to establish annual giving. Although the program started out modestly, it soon became a major source of income for the university. Also, during World War II, Princeton established an accelerated program to allow students to graduate early to join the armed forces. Despite facing the Great Depression and two wars, the university continued to grow during this period, adding four new departments in aeronautical engineering, Near Eastern studies, religion, and music. During a two-year period from 1946 to 1947, the bicentennial anniversary of Princeton was being celebrated. During this time, there were three major convocations and almost continuous conferences. Dodds established bicentennial preceptorships to allow young faculty members to spend a year in research. Dodds was a trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation from 1936 to 1955.


Relationship with the House Un-American Activities Committee

Dodds was president at the height of the
second Red Scare McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term origina ...
, and was complicit, like many U.S. university presidents, with the HUAC's prosecutions. In a 1949 speech at the University of Hawaii, Dodds argued that communists had surrendered their rights as persons. In a speech that same year in San Francisco, he claimed that communists were unfit to teach in schools or universities.F. David Peat, ''Infinite Potential: The Life and Times of David Bohm'' elix Books, 1996p 99 In December 1950, when Princeton physicist
David Bohm David Joseph Bohm (; 20 December 1917 – 27 October 1992) was an American-Brazilian-British scientist who has been described as one of the most significant theoretical physicists of the 20th centuryPeat 1997, pp. 316-317 and who contributed ...
was arrested for his war-time connection to the
Berkeley Radiation Lab Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), commonly referred to as the Berkeley Lab, is a United States national laboratory that is owned by, and conducts scientific research on behalf of, the United States Department of Energy. Located in ...
, Dodds released a statement suspending Bohm "from all teaching and other duties" and in "an ominous footnote mentioned that Bohm's appointment was due to terminate in June 1951." Indeed, though Bohm was acquitted on all counts in May 1951, Dodds ensured that his contract was not renewed.


Later life

Dodds retired in 1957 and was succeeded by Robert F. Goheen. He died at his home in Hightstown, New Jersey, in 1980.Farber, M. A
"Harold W. Dodds, 91, Former Princeton President: A Test of Principles: First Taught High School: Helped Student Move"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', October 26, 1980. Accessed March 3, 2008.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodds, Harold W. 1889 births 1980 deaths People from Hightstown, New Jersey Presidents of Princeton University Grove City College alumni Princeton University alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni Case Western Reserve University faculty People from Venango County, Pennsylvania 20th-century American academics