Darcy Crenshaw Coyle (October 26, 1918 - September 8, 2002) was an American

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...

and

academic administrator Academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint responsibilities. Some ty ...

, who served as the president of

Nichols College Nichols College is a private business college in Dudley, Massachusetts. Founded in 1815 as Nichols Academy, Nichols College offers both bachelor's and master's degrees, as well as certificate programs. History Nichols Academy The instituti ...

from 1973 to 1978 and

Upper Iowa University Upper Iowa University (UIU) is a private university in Fayette, Iowa. It enrolls around 6000 students and offers distance education programs that include 15 centers in the U.S., an online program, an independent study program, and centers in ...

from 1978 to 1984.

Career

Born to Delphus C. and Stella Vivian, Coyle graduated from

Battle Creek Central High School Battle Creek Central High School (BCCHS) is a State school, public Secondary school, high school in Battle Creek, Michigan, Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. It is the sole high school in the Battle Creek Public Schools district, and one of fo ...

in 1936, and soon went on to join the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

and its

Naval Academy A naval academy provides education for prospective naval officers. See also * Military academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally pro ...

. He participated in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, and spent time aboard the

aircraft carriers An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

USS Ranger (CV-4) USS ''Ranger'' (CV-4) was an interwar United States Navy aircraft carrier, the only ship of its class. As a Treaty ship, ''Ranger'' was the first U.S. vessel to be designed and built from the keel up as a carrier. She was relatively small ...

and

USS Randolph (CV-15) USS ''Randolph'' (CV/CVA/CVS-15) was one of 24 s built during World War II for the United States Navy. The second US Navy ship to bear the name, she was named for Founding Father Peyton Randolph, president of the First Continental Congress. ''R ...

. Coyle would resign from the level of

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

in 1946. Coyle continued his education by receiving a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accou ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1948, and then a

Doctor of Business Administration The Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) is either a professional doctorate or a research doctorate, depending on the granting university, awarded on the basis of advanced study, examinations, project work, and research in business administr ...

in 1962. His dissertation was titled "Mechanization: Work Measurement and Manpower Utilization." Before beginning a career in education, Coyle worked as an

industrial engineer Industrial engineering is an engineering profession that is concerned with the optimization of complex processes, systems, or organizations by developing, improving and implementing integrated systems of people, money, knowledge, information a ...

for such companies as

Gillette Gillette is an American brand of safety razors and other personal care products including shaving supplies, owned by the multi-national corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G). Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was owned by The ...

, Spalding, and

Sylvania Electric Products Sylvania Electric Products Inc. was an American manufacturer of diverse electrical equipment, including at various times radio transceivers, vacuum tubes, semiconductors, and mainframe computers such as MOBIDIC. They were one of the companies inv ...

. Coyle entered the field of education as a

Babson College Babson College is a private business school in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Established in 1919, its central focus is on entrepreneurship education. It was founded by Roger W. Babson as an all-male business institute, but became coeducational ...

from 1949 to 1951. He then taught at his alma mater, the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA ...

, from 1957 to 1959, as well as

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original c ...

from 1959 to 1961, and at

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Va ...

from 1961 to 1973. In 1973, Coyle was named President of

, and became the third to hold that position in the school's history, succeeding

James L. Conrad James Lawson Conrad, Sr. (November 28, 1900 – April 19, 1974) was an American academic administrator, who notably served as the first president of Nichols College from 1931 to 1966. Career Born to Thomas H. Conrad and Catherine A. Kane, Con ...

and

Gordon B. Cross Gordon Bismarck Cross (January 30, 1911 – January 31, 1993) was an American professor and Academic administration, academic administrator who notably served as president of Nichols College from 1966 to 1973. Career A native of Maine, Cross atte ...

. That same year, Coyle gave the

commencement Graduation is the awarding of a diploma to a student by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it. The date of the graduation ceremony is often called graduation day. The graduation ceremony is al ...

address for the graduating class. During his administration, in 1974, Nichols received the authority from the

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

to grant the degree of

. He would remain in the post until 1978, when he accepted to become President of

. In 1984, Coyle retired as President Emeritus. Over his career, Coyle also accepted several visiting faculty appointments in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, including the

University of Westminster The University of Westminster is a public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first polytechnic to open in London. The Polytechnic formally received a Royal charter in Augu ...

(1965), the

University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a public university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield Technical College, was found ...

(1966-1968),

Oxford University 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 ...

(1967-1971), the

International Institute for Management Development International Institute for Management Development (IMD) is a private business school in Lausanne, Switzerland specializes in executive education offering open enrollment programs for senior executives, as well as longer-term educational engage ...

(1967-1968), and

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted uni ...

(1969). In 1985, Coyle was sent to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

by the

International Executive Service Corps International Executive Service Corps is an international economic development not-for-profit organization with headquarters in Washington, D.C. IESC was founded in 1964 by David Rockefeller, States M. Mead III, Frank Pace, Sol Linowitz, and other ...

to conduct a study on setting up a

business college A business college is a school that provides education above the high school level but could not be compared to that of a traditional university or college. Unlike universities and even junior and community colleges, business colleges typically ...

in the country. That same year, he moved to

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

and became an

adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, however the gener ...

New England College New England College (NEC) is a private liberal arts college in Henniker, New Hampshire. As of Fall 2020 New England College's enrollment was 4,327 students (1,776 undergraduate and 2,551 graduate). The college is regionally accredited by the ...

and

Keene State College Keene State College is a public liberal arts college in Keene, New Hampshire. It is part of the University System of New Hampshire and the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. Founded in 1909 as a teacher's college (originally, Keene Norma ...

. In 1993, Coyle moved to

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

, where he would die in 2002, after suffering a stroke.

Works

*''Proceedings of the Conference on Management of Research and Development'', 1963 *''Nichols College: A Brief History'', 1975 *''Censored Mail: A Personal Narrative of World War II Aboard the Aircraft Carriers, U.S.S. Ranger (CV-4) and U.S.S. Randolph (CV-15)'', 1989,

References

1918 births 2002 deaths People from Trigg County, Kentucky United States Naval Academy alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II American industrial engineers Harvard Business School alumni Babson College faculty Harvard Business School faculty Boston University faculty Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute faculty Nichols College Upper Iowa University faculty New England College faculty Keene State College faculty Academic staff of International Institute for Management Development People associated with the University of Westminster People associated with the University of Hertfordshire People associated with the University of Oxford People associated with Heriot-Watt University 20th-century American academics {{US-academic-administrator-1910s-stub