President of Lawrence University, 1954-1963
The Lawrence community was deeply saddened by news of the death of former president Douglas Knight on January 23, 2005, at his home in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, of complications from pneumonia. He was 83.
Born June 8, 1921, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Doug Knight attended Yale University, where he received the A.B., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in English. He taught 18th century literature at Yale for six years, before becoming president of then Lawrence College. When appointed the 11th president of the college in 1953, he was the youngest president in Lawrence history and one of the youngest presidents of any college or university in the nation.
He served as president of Duke University from 1963 to 1969, during one of the most turbulent times in American higher education. Active in educational issues throughout his career, he served as a U.S. delegate to a SEATO conference for Asian university presidents in 1961, a member of the National Committee for UNESCO from 1965 to 1967, a member of the Educational Advisory Committee for the Esso Education Foundation, chairman of President Lyndon Johnson's National Advisory Commission on Libraries, a trustee of the United Negro College Fund, and chairman of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.
In 1969 he left Duke to become Division Vice President for Educational Development at RCA, where he was responsible for developing relationships between RCA and the education community, and in 1971 he was appointed president of RCA Iran. In 1976, he became president of Questar, a small manufacturer of optical instruments for industry, medicine, and astronomy. His love of teaching was ever present and he continued to teach during his presidencies at Lawrence and Duke as well as teaching courses in the great books through the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation during his time with Questar.
Author of more than 10 books, including his 2003 memoir, The Dancer and the Dance: One Man’s Chronicle, which chronicled his experiences at Yale, Lawrence, Duke, and Questar Corporation from 1938 to 2001, he was a prolific writer across many genres and academic subjects. His doctoral thesis, Alexander Pope and the Heroic Tradition, was published by the Yale University Press in 1951. He also authored or edited The Federal Government and Higher Education, Medical Ventures and the University, Libraries at Large, Street of Dreams (an earlier memoir about his Duke years that was published in 1989), and The Dark Gate, a book of poetry published in 1970.
President Knight was instrumental in turning Lawrence into a national institution of the highest caliber. During his tenure, enrollment grew from 750 to 1,130 and the geographical representation of the student body broadened significantly. His commitment to strengthening and expanding the sciences and upgrading the science facilities of the college was also one of the major accomplishments of his administration. He led innovations in the curriculum that resulted in a sophomore studies offering and a new emphasis on the study of non-European cultures and languages.
Under his leadership, the endowment and the value of Facility Services more than doubled. He oversaw the building of Colman, Plantz, and Trever Halls; the Music-Drama Center; and a major addition to the Carnegie Library. Youngchild Hall of Science was completed in 1964, one year after he left Lawrence to assume the presidency of Duke University.
In announcing the news of his death to the campus community, President Jill Beck observed, "While he will be fondly remembered for those contributions to the college and many more, his legacy is that of a man who was tireless in his dedication to Lawrence, kind to all those who met him, and optimistic about the future and the important role higher education might play in advancing our society and nation."
President Richard Brodhead of Duke University commented, "Doug Knight was a consummate gentleman and scholar. He was a man of great wisdom and generosity."
In reminiscing on his association with Doug Knight, former Lawrence University president Richard Warch said, "Doug Knight served Lawrence with remarkable distinction, and I know he looked back on his years at the college as among the happiest of his remarkable professional career. In his recent book of memoirs, he recalled how he was able 'to rejoice in the excitement of all of it and ... to enjoy that texture of activity in all its richness' while at Lawrence, cherishing the fact that the 'size of the place allowed working intimacies of every sort -- often evolving into increasingly close friendships.' Doug indeed maintained those friendships over the past 45 years."
"Doug Knight rejoiced in the 'varied humanity and constant aliveness' of Lawrence," Warch added, "and Lawrence will forever rejoice in its good fortune of having Doug Knight as its 11th president."
Professor Emeritus of Government Mojmir Povolny, who was hired by President Knight and taught at Lawrence from 1958-1992, recalled Knight as "a great gentleman, great speaker, and a great teacher." "He was a very enlightened and forward-looking president who carried on the tradition started by Presidents Wriston and Pusey of transforming Lawrence into a national liberal arts college," said Povolny. "He strengthened and enlarged the scope of liberal education at Lawrence. Those roots were here when he arrived, but it blossomed under his presidency."
Douglas Knight is survived by his wife of 60 years, Grace Nichols; four sons, Christopher of Glencoe, Illinois, Douglas Jr. of Portland, Maine, Thomas of Vancouver, British Columbia, and Stephen of Stockton, New Jersey; eight grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
While details are still being finalized, a funeral service will likely be held on Thursday, January 27, in Pennsylvania. Condolences to the family may be sent c/o Mrs. Grace Knight, Heritage Towers 816, 200 Veterans Lane, Doylestown, PA, 18901-6716. The family requests that those interested in a memorial gift make donations to a scholarship fund of their choice.
