Ray Lorenzo Heffner (March 7, 1925 – November 28, 2012) was an American educator and president of Brown University. He served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1948, where he was elected to

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

, the

Elizabethan Club The Elizabethan Club is a social club at Yale University named for Queen Elizabeth I and her era. Its profile and members tend toward a literary disposition, and conversation is one of the Club's chief purposes. The Elizabethan Club's collectio ...

, and

Scroll and Key The Scroll and Key Society is a secret society, founded in 1842 at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the oldest Yale secret societies and reputedly the wealthiest. The society is one of the reputed "Big Three" societies ...

. He earned his master's degree at Yale in 1950 and his Ph.D., also from Yale, in 1953 following the completion of a dissertation on the Elizabethan poet

Michael Drayton Michael Drayton (1563 – 23 December 1631) was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era. He died on 23 December 1631 in London. Early life Drayton was born at Hartshill, near Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. Almost nothin ...

. Heffner was a Guggenheim Fellow for the academic year 1959–1960. In 1966, he accepted the presidency of Brown University. He resigned the presidency of Brown in 1969 stating, “I have simply reached the conclusion that I do not enjoy being a university president.” Heffner died November 28, 2012 at Lantern Park Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Coralville, Iowa. A more detailed biography of President Heffner is available through Brown University's ''Encyclopedia Brunoniana''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heffner, Ray 1925 births American educational theorists Literature educators People from Durham, North Carolina Presidents of Brown University United States Navy officers Yale College alumni 2012 deaths United States Navy personnel of World War II