Paul Bragdon (April 19, 1927 – August 7, 2021) was Reed College’s longest serving President, from 1971 to 1988. One of the college's residence halls, Bragdon Hall, was named after him. After he retired from Reed, he became interim president of Lewis & Clark College from 2003 to 2004.

Background

Bragdon was born in Portland, Maine. A Marine Corps vet, he graduated from

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

and

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

. He received honorary degrees from Amherst College, Whitman College, Oregon Health & Sciences University, Pacific University, Lewis & Clark College, and Reed College.

Career

Bragdon was named Reed College President in 1971, when he was a 43-year-old Senior Vice President at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. Current Reed College President Audrey Bilger wrote, "Paul became president of Reed at an especially difficult moment in the college's history, with multiple challenges that led some to question Reed's viability. With Nancy by his side, Paul's caring and stalwart leadership allowed the Reed community to regain its strength and continue to offer its distinctive education in the liberal arts and sciences to the thousands of students who have chosen to enroll."

Personal life

Bragdon married Nancy Ellen Horton and has two sons Peter and

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

and a daughter Susan. He died on August 7, 2021, at the age of 94.

References

1927 births 2021 deaths Amherst College alumni Yale Law School alumni Presidents of Reed College New York University faculty People from Portland, Maine {{US-academic-administrator-1920s-stub