William Bentinck-Smith (1914–1993) was a

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 ...

administrator and for many years editor of the ''

Harvard Alumni Bulletin ''Harvard Magazine'' is an independently edited magazine and separately incorporated affiliate of Harvard University. Aside from ''The Harvard Crimson'', it is the only publication covering the entire university, and also regularly distributed t ...

'', known for his "encyclopedic" knowledge of Harvard's history. He was born in Boston and graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

in 1937. In World War II he served in the Navy, ending his service as a lieutenant commander. He wrote several books on Harvard College and its history, and especially its faculty and library system. At the time of his death he had completed two of three volumes of a history of Harvard's hundreds of endowed professorships.

References

Harvard University administrators Harvard College alumni 1914 births 1993 deaths United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century American academics {{US-academic-administrator-1910s-stub