Richard Glenn Gettell

Richard Glenn Gettell
12th President of
Mount Holyoke College
In office
1957–1968
Preceded byRoswell G. Ham
Succeeded byMeribeth E. Cameron
Personal details
BornMarch 3, 1912
Hartford, Connecticut
DiedAugust 14, 1988 (aged 76)
Menlo Park, California
Alma materAmherst College
University of California, Berkeley
ProfessionProfessor

Richard Glenn Gettell (March 3, 1912 – August 14, 1988)[1] was an American educator who served as the 12th President of Mount Holyoke College from 1957 to 1968.

His mother, Nelene Groff Gettell (née Knapp), taught at Amherst High School from 1921 to 1923;[2][3] the 1923 Yearbook was dedicated to her.[4] His father was college football coach and political scientist Raymond G. Gettell. The family moved to Berkeley, California in 1923 after Raymond was appointed head of the political science department at the University of California, which he held until his death.[5]

Gettell served in the Merchant Marines, then attended Deerfield Academy. He received his B.A. from Amherst in 1933, where he was president of its Alpha Delta Phi chapter, and his Ph.D. from the University of California in 1940. Before his appointment to Mount Holyoke, Gettell taught at Harvard University, Wellesley College, Yale University, and Columbia University.[6]

  1. ^ The National Cyclopædia of American Biography. James T. White & Company. 1960.
  2. ^ "Amherst High School 1921 Yearbook" archive.org Retrieved July 27, 2019
  3. ^ "Amherst High School 1922 Yearbook" archive.org Retrieved July 27, 2019
  4. ^ "Amherst High School 1923 Yearbook" archive.org Retrieved July 26, 2019
  5. ^ "Prof. Gettell". The Press Democrat. Santa Rosa, California. Associated Press. October 11, 1949. p. 7. Retrieved January 1, 2019 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  6. ^ "Gettell, Richard Glenn, 1912-1988" SNAC Retrieved July 26, 2019