Charles Seymour (January 1, 1885 – August 11, 1963) was an American

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

and the 15th President of Yale University from 1937 to 1951. As an academic administrator, he was instrumental in establishing Yale's residential college system. His writing focused on the diplomatic history of

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 ...

Early life

Seymour was born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

, the son of

Thomas Day Seymour Thomas Day Seymour (April 1, 1848December 31, 1907) was an American classical scholar. He spent most of his career as a Professor of Greek at Yale University and published primarily on the works of Homer. Life Born in Hudson, Ohio, Seymour gradu ...

, who taught classics at Yale, and Sarah Hitchcock Seymour. His paternal grandfather, Nathan Perkins Seymour, was the great-great grandson of

Thomas Clap Thomas Clap or Thomas Clapp (June 26, 1703 – January 7, 1767) was an American academic and educator, a Congregational minister, and college administrator. He was both the fifth rector and the earliest official to be called "president" of Yale Co ...

, who was President of Yale in the 1740s. His paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Day, was the grandniece of

Jeremiah Day Jeremiah Day (August 3, 1773 – August 22, 1867) was an American academic, a Congregational minister and President of Yale College (1817–1846). Early life Day was the son of Rev. Jeremiah and Abigail (Noble) Osborn Day, who were descendant ...

, who was Yale's president from 1817 through 1846. An ancestor of his mother, the former Sarah Hitchcock, was awarded an honorary degree at Yale's first graduation ceremonies in 1702. "Charles Seymour of Yale Dies at 78,"
''New York Times.'' August 12, 1963. Seymour was awarded a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

in 1904; and he earned a second BA from Yale in 1908. He went on to earn a PhD from Yale in 1911. In 1908, he was also tapped as a member of the

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones, also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death, is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior class society at the university, Skull and Bone ...

Society and in 1919 he was founding member of The Council on Foreign Relations.

Career

Seymour's teaching experience began at Yale in 1911 when he was made an instructor in history. He was made a full professor in 1918; and when he eventually left teaching, he had risen amongst the faculty to become Sterling Professor of History (1922–1927). "Seymour to Retire as Yale Head in '50,"
''New York Times.'' April 11, 1949 He taught history at Yale from 1911 though 1937, when he became president of the university. Seymour served as the chief of the Austro-Hungarian Division of the American Commission to Negotiate Peace in 1919. He was also the U.S. delegate on the

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

n, and

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

n Territorial Commissions in 1919. In 1933, he delivered the Albert Shaw Lectures on Diplomatic History at Johns Hopkins University on the subject of American Diplomacy during the First World War. Seymour served for ten years as the university's provost (1927–1937). During this period,

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

was re-organized into a system of ten

residential colleges A residential college is a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship w ...

, instituted in 1933 with the help of a grant by Yale graduate

Edward S. Harkness Edward Stephen Harkness (January 22, 1874 – January 29, 1940) was an American philanthropist. Given privately and through his family's Commonwealth Fund, Harkness' gifts to private hospitals, art museums, and educational institutions in the Nort ...

, who admired the college systems at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

. Seymour became the first Master of

Berkeley College Berkeley College is a private for-profit college with campuses in New York, New Jersey, and online. It was founded in 1931 and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and certificate programs. Berkeley College is accredited by the Middle ...

. "Yale Names 3 More as College Masters; Drs. Charles Seymour, C.W. Mendel and Arnold Whitridge of Colombia Are Named,"
''New York Times.'' May 22, 1931

/ref> At age 52, Seymour succeeded

James Rowland Angell James Rowland Angell (; May 8, 1869 – March 4, 1949) was an American psychologist and educator who served as the 16th President of Yale University between 1921 and 1937. His father, James Burrill Angell (1829–1916), was president of the Un ...

as the university's 15th president in October 1937. "Seymour Named Yale President To Succeed Dr. Angell in June,"
''New York Times.'' February 14, 1937. After his retirement in July 1950, he would be succeeded by

Alfred Whitney Griswold Alfred Whitney Griswold (October 27, 1906 – April 19, 1963) was an American historian and educator. He served as List of presidents of Yale University, 16th president of Yale University from 1951 to 1963, during which he built much of Yale's mo ...

.Parke, Richard H
"Yale in Graduation Honors its Leader,"
''New York Times.'' June 13, 1950. After his retirement as president, Seymour continued his involvement with the university as curator of the papers of

Edward M. House Edward Mandell House (July 26, 1858 – March 28, 1938) was an American diplomat, and an adviser to President Woodrow Wilson. He was known as Colonel House, although his rank was honorary and he had performed no military service. He was a highl ...

at the Yale University Library. He died in Chatham, Massachusetts in 1963 after a long illness. His son, Charles Seymour, Jr., was a professor of

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

at Yale. Quote: ''"We seek the truth and will endure the consequences."''

Selected works

* 1915 �
''Electoral Reform in England and Wales: The Development and Operation of the Parliamentary Franchise, 1832–1885.''
New Haven:

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universi ...

. * 1916 �
''The Diplomatic Background of the War, 1870–1914.''
New Haven: Yale University Press. * 1918 �
''How the World Votes: The Story of Democratic Development in Elections''
with

Donald Paige Frary Donald Paige Frary (1893–1919) was a noted American professor and writer. He was born in Charlemont, Massachusetts on August 9, 1893 to Edward Sanderson and Caroline Louisa (née Paige) Frary. Frary was a graduate of Yale University and would ...

. Springfield, Massachusetts: C. A. Nichols. * 1921 �
''Woodrow Wilson and the World War.''
New Haven: Yale University Press. * 1926 �
''The Intimate Papers of Colonel House.''
New York:

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

. * 1934 �
''American Diplomacy During the World War.''
Baltimore:

Johns Hopkins Press The Johns Hopkins University Press (also referred to as JHU Press or JHUP) is the publishing division of Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and is the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The press publi ...

. [reprinted by Greenwood Press, Westport Connecticut, 1975: * 1935 �
''American Neutrality, 1914–17: Essays on the Causes of American Intervention in the World War.''
* 1921 �
''What Really Happened in Paris: the story of the Peace Conference, 1918–1919''
with Edward House. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. * 1963 – ''Letters from the Paris Peace Conference''. New Haven

References

* Kelley, Brooks Mather. (1999)
''Yale: A History.''
New Haven:

.
OCLC 810552

External links

* Seymour family papers (MS 440). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library

* Charles Seymour papers (MS 441). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seymour, Charles 1885 births 1963 deaths Presidents of Yale University Burials at Grove Street Cemetery Yale Sterling Professors 20th-century American academics