Ralph Jay Hexter (born 1952) is a distinguished professor of classics and comparative literature at the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

. Previously, he served as the fifth president of

Hampshire College Hampshire College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1970 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges ...

.Hampshire College biography
/ref>Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts biography

Education

Hexter received an A.B. in English literature from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

in 1974. He then studied in England, where he earned a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

and

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in classics and modern languages at Corpus Christi College,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

in 1977 and 1982, respectively. He also earned an M.Phil. and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in comparative literature from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1979 and 1982, respectively. Hexter subsequently taught in the classics department at Yale from 1981 to 1991.

Career

Hexter taught classics and comparative literature at the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a Public university, public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a Federated state, state, it is the fla ...

and at Yale University. He was also the Executive Dean of Letters and Science and Dean of Arts and Humanities at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. Hexter assumed the Hampshire College presidency on August 1, 2005, a post he relinquished on December 31, 2010. Hexter has been involved with the

Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts The Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts (AICUM) is a grouping of accredited, independent, private colleges and universities in the state of Massachusetts. The Association advocates in public policy forums on behal ...

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

, the

American Philological Association The Society for Classical Studies (SCS), formerly known as the American Philological Association (APA), is a non-profit North American scholarly organization devoted to all aspects of Greek and Roman civilization founded in 1869. It is the pree ...

, and the

National Conference for Community and Justice The National Conference for Community and Justice is an American social justice organization focused on fighting biases and promoting understanding between people of different races and cultures. The organization was founded in 1927 as the Natio ...

. On August 2, 2010, Hexter announced his resignation as president of Hampshire. On August 20, Hampshire College announced that Marlene Gerber Fried would serve as acting president and that Hexter would be on

sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work; "an extended period of time intentionally spent on something that’s not your routine job." The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Bi ...

beginning on September 1.Hampshire College
Marlene Gerber Fried to be Acting Hampshire College President
2010-08-20. Retrieved 2010-08-23. On November 22, 2010, it was announced that Ralph Hexter would be the next Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor at the University of California, Davis, effective January 1, 2011. His faculty title is ''Distinguished Professor of Classics and Comparative Literature''.

Personal life

Hexter is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

. He was among the founding members of LGBTQ Presidents in Higher Education. Hexter married his longtime partner, Manfred Kollmeier, in 2007.A Gay President Says 'I Do'
/ref>

Bibliography

*''Equivocal Oaths and Ordeals in Medieval Literature,'' by Ralph J. Hexter, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1975. *''Ovid and Medieval Schooling: Studies in Medieval School Commentaries on Ovid's Ars Amatoria, Epistulae ex Ponto, and Epistulae Heroidum,'' by Ralph J. Hexter, Munich: Arbeo-Gesellschaft, 1986. *''Innovations of Antiquity,'' edited by Ralph Hexter and Daniel Selden, New York: Routledge, 1992. *''A Guide to the Odyssey: A Commentary on the English Translation of Robert Fitzgerald,'' by Ralph J. Hexter, New York: Vintage Books, 1993. *''The Faith of Achates: Finding Aeneas' Other,'' by Ralph J. Hexter, Berkeley, CA: Doe Library, University of California, 1997. *''The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Latin Literature'', edited by Ralph J. Hexter and David Townsend. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. *''Appendix Ovidiana: Latin Texts Ascribed to Ovid in the Middle Ages'', edited by Ralph Hexter, Larua Pfuntner, and Justin Haynes. Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 62. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 2020.

References

External links

via University of California, Davis {{DEFAULTSORT:Hexter, Ralph 1952 births Living people Harvard College alumni Yale University alumni University of Colorado Boulder faculty University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty Presidents of Hampshire College American gay men Gay academics University of California, Davis administrators