Former Harvard president Nathan Pusey dies

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- Nathan Marsh Pusey, a scholar of ancient history who led Harvard University during the turbulent campus protests of the 1960s, has died. He was 94.

Harvard spokeswoman Rebecca Rollins said Pusey had suffered a number of health problems in recent weeks. He died Wednesday in New York City, where he lived.

Pusey was president from 1953 to 1971, a period during which Harvard transformed from a bastion of the elite to a diverse, national university that aggressively courted students from all backgrounds. But he left embittered over campus radicals whom he believed threatened academic freedom, which he had defended during the McCarthy era of the 1950s.

Pusey called for an end to campus turmoil and violence during the late 1960s, complaining that on many campuses learning had almost ceased because of the violent, revolutionary activities of a "small group of overeager young ... who feel they have a special calling to redeem society."

In 1969, Harvard's campus essentially shut down and portions were occupied by anti-Vietnam War protesters. When Cambridge police and state troopers violently broke up the demonstrations, even some moderate students blamed Pusey for the ensuing violence.

Pusey indicated in a 1989 Harvard Crimson retrospective that he had no regrets.

"When I was against McCarthy and I was out in Wisconsin fighting against his election, and when I was calling in the police at Harvard, I was fighting for the same principles," he said.

When Pusey announced his resignation in 1970, the Crimson wrote that "while disagreeing with some of Pusey's standards, it is impossible to ignore the dedication and integrity with which he has clung to them. Harvard has owed him thanks before, and does now."

Pusey wrote his doctoral dissertation on Athenian democracy and adamantly opposed violence as a political tool.

After retiring from Harvard in 1971, Pusey served four years as president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. From 1979 to 1980 he was president of the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia.

Born in 1907 in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Pusey graduated from Harvard in 1928 and received a doctorate in ancient history in 1937. During World War II, he taught physics for Naval V-5 students at Wesleyan College. He was president of Lawrence College from 1944-53.

During his tenure, Harvard's endowment grew from $304 million to more than $1 billion. It is more than $18 billion today.

Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Harvard University

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.