Calvin Hastings Plimpton (7 October 1918 – 30 January 2007) was an American physician and educator, who served as president of

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

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...

. He is known for appointing a commission in 1970 whose findings resulted in the admission of women to Amherst in 1975. Plimpton was the son of

George Arthur Plimpton George Arthur Plimpton (July 13, 1855 – July 1, 1936) was an American publisher and philanthropist. Life and career Plimpton was born in Walpole, Massachusetts, the son of Priscilla Guild (Lewis) and Calvin Gay Plimpton. He was the son and grand ...

, who was chairman of the Amherst board of trustees from 1906 to 1936. His mother was Fanny "Anne" Hastings, and through her he was descended from Thomas Hastings, who came from the East Anglia region of England to the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...

in 1634. Plimpton attended

Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...

and received a bachelor's degree from Amherst, where he was a member of

Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active colonies across North America. It was founded at Yale College in 1844 by fifteen ...

fraternity. He received master's and M.D. degrees from

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 ...

and a Doctor of Medical Science degree from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. He served in the U.S. Army as a captain 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 opposin ...

. He later taught at Columbia. Plimpton was president of Amherst from 1960 to 1971 (Plimpton House, now a dormitory, was named in his honour), president of Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, N.Y., a division of the State University of New York, from 1971 to 1979 and president of American University of Beirut from 1984 to 1987. John William Ward was his successor at Amherst College. Ward was successful in making it co-ed.

References

*Buckminster, Lydia N. H. ''The Hastings Memorial, A Genealogical Account of the Descendants of Thomas Hastings of Watertown, Mass. from 1634 to 1864''. Boston: Samuel G. Drake Publisher. Undated NEHGS photoduplicate of the 1866 edition.

External links

American University of Beirut profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plimpton, Calvin 1918 births 2007 deaths Harvard Medical School alumni 20th-century American physicians American University of Beirut trustees Amherst College faculty United States Army personnel of World War II Columbia University alumni Columbia University faculty Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Amherst College alumni Academic staff of the American University of Beirut United States Army officers Presidents of Amherst College 20th-century American academics