Franklin Lewis Ford (26 December 1920,

Waukegan, Illinois ''(Fortress or Trading Post)'' , image_flag = , image_seal = , blank_emblem_size = 150 , blank_emblem_type = Logo , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivisi ...

– 31 August 2003,

Lexington, Massachusetts Lexington is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is 10 miles (16 km) from Downtown Boston. The population was 34,454 as of the 2020 census. The area was originally inhabited by Native Americans, and was firs ...

) was an American history professor and dean.

Education and career

Franklin Ford received in 1942 his A.B. from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

. From 1943 to 1946 he served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps and the Office of Strategic Services. At

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 higher le ...

he graduated with M.A. in 1948 and Ph.D. in 1950. He specialized in modern German history and 17th-century French history. From 1949 to 1952 he taught at

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont. Founded in 1932 as a women's college, it became co-educational in 1969. It claims to be the first college to include visual and performing arts as an equal partner in ...

. In Harvard University's history department, he was an assistant professor from 1953 to 1956, an associate professor 1956 to 1959, and a full professor from 1959 to 1991, when he retired as professor emeritus. In 1968 he was named the McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History. At Harvard he was Faculty of Arts and Sciences dean from 1962 to 1970 (as successor to

McGeorge Bundy McGeorge "Mac" Bundy (March 30, 1919 – September 16, 1996) was an American academic who served as the U.S. National Security Advisor to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 through 1966. He was president of the Ford Founda ...

) and acting dean during spring 1973. Ford was a Guggenheim Fellow for the academic year 1952–1953. In 1961 he was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

. He was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1974. He was at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...

for the first six months of 1974. Ford was the author of four books and was working on a book on the history of the Huguenots when he died. Upon his death he was survived by his widow, two sons, and a granddaughter.

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Franklin Lewis 1920 births 2003 deaths People from Waukegan, Illinois Historians from Illinois 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers University of Minnesota alumni Harvard University alumni Harvard University faculty Harvard University Department of History faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 20th-century American male writers United States Army personnel of World War II Bennington College faculty Members of the American Philosophical Society