Kingman Brewster, Jr, 1919 - 1988
TIME magazine cover (23 June 1967)
Born: 17 June 1919, Longmeadow, Massachusetts
Died: 8 November 1988, Oxford, England, UK
Brewster was born into an old New England family, directly descended from two who came over on the Mayflower, including the leader of the Pilgrim colony. He attended Belmont Hill School outside Boston, then entered Yale College, graduating summa cum laude in 1941. He was one of the rare Elis who was offered entrance into Skull and Bones and declined. He helped organize the America First Committee, opposing US entry in World War II, but worked briefly at Washington City and enrolled in the Navy. He flew submarine-patrol missions over the Atlantic. After the war he earned his law degree at Harvard (magna cum laude 1948), having been treasurer and note editor at the law review. He was an assistant professor at Harvard Law from 1950 to 1953, then full professor through 1960 when he was offered a position at Yale Law School. He was provost when the president of Yale died, acting president for five "very itchy" months, and president of Yale from 1963 to 1977. He maintained relative peace on campus through the Vietnam protest era and oversaw an increase in admission for minorities and the first admissions for women, a position that put him in conflict with alumni who wanted to see their offspring more easily enter their alma mater. He was well regarded by students and faculty, apparently embarrassed by having a president with a law degree from Harvard, an honorary Doctor of Laws degree was bestowed on him in a surprise move during the 1973 commencement ceremonies. President Gerald Carter asked him to become Ambassador to the Court of Saint James in 1977, a post he held for four years. He then served as the resident partner in London for a New York law firm, and in 1986 he was named master of University College, Oxford. He suffered a brain hemorrhage and died in an Oxford hospital.
Biography from Wikipedia and New York Times obituary
Additional quotes from Wikiquote. Wikiquote entries are often "sourced" and may include items longer than those included here, particularly for poets, lyricists, and dramatists.
Kingman Brewster, Jr quotes:
Quotes found : 16 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 2) 1 2 Next
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- I'm very curious to know what the hell they're saying on the phone, but I'd be more worried if they weren't talking. permalink
Kingman Brewster, Jr - The Observer (10 June 1979) - If I take refuge in ambiguity, I assure you that it's quite conscious. permalink
Kingman Brewster, Jr - The New York Tribune (14 October 1963) - Incomprehensible jargon is the hallmark of a profession. permalink
Kingman Brewster, Jr - Address to the British Institute of Management (13 December 1977) - It is satisfying for the descendant of a dissident refugee from Elizabeth I to present his credentials to Elizabeth II. permalink
Kingman Brewster, Jr - The Observer (3 July 1977) - It is the natural desire of each nation to use the other as an instrument of its own purposes and policies. By dint of our mutual dependence, your influence is amplified by our power. Our power is made more responsible and more effective by your influence. permalink
Kingman Brewster, Jr - Judgment is more than skill. It sets forth on intellectual seas beyond the shores of hard indisputable factual information. permalink
Kingman Brewster, Jr - Address at University of Exeter (26 October 1978) - Maybe you are the cool generation ... If coolness means a capacity to stay calm and use your head in the service of ends passionately believed in, then it has my admiration. permalink
Kingman Brewster, Jr - Baccalaureate address as President of Yale (12 June 1966) - Perhaps the most fundamental value of a liberal education is that it makes life more interesting. It allows you to think things which do not occur to the less learned ... it makes it less likely that you will be bored with life. permalink
Kingman Brewster, Jr - The function of a briefing paper is to prevent the ambassador from saying something dreadfully indiscreet. I sometimes think its true object is to prevent the ambassador from saying anything at all. permalink
Kingman Brewster, Jr - Address at Edinburgh, Scotland (8 September 1977) - The newspaper fits the reader's program while the listener must fit the broadcaster's program. permalink
Kingman Brewster, Jr - The Enduring American Press (October 1964) - The presumption of innocence is not just a legal concept. In commonplace terms, it rests on that generosity of spirit which assumes the best, not the worst, of the stranger. permalink
Kingman Brewster, Jr - There is no greater challenge than to have someone relying upon you; no greater satisfaction than to vindicate his expectation. permalink
Kingman Brewster, Jr - Baccalaureate address as President of Yale (12 June 1966) - Universities should be safe havens where ruthless examination of realities will not be distorted by the aim to please or inhibited by the risk of displeasure. permalink
Kingman Brewster, Jr - Inaugural address as President of Yale University (11 April 1964) - We all live in a televised goldfish bowl. permalink
Kingman Brewster, Jr - Lecture, St George?s Chapel, Windsor, England (5 May 1978) - While the spoken word can travel faster, you can't take it home in your hand. Only the written word can be absorbed wholly at the convenience of the reader. permalink
Kingman Brewster, Jr - The Enduring American Press (October 1964)
Quotes found : 16 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 2) 1 2 Next
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