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[[Image:CarlHovde.jpg|thumb|Carl Hovde]]

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'''Carl Hovde''' [[Columbia College|CC]] '[[1950|50]] was Dean of [[Columbia College]] and a professor of [[English]], specializing in American literature. 

==Early life==

Hovde was born in Pennsylvania; his father was the president of and a professor of Scandinavian history at the [[New School]]. After seeing action in France and Germany during [[World War II]], he graduated from Columbia as [[salutatorian]] with a degree in philosophy and earned his doctorate in American lit from [[Princeton]]. Hovde then taught at [[Ohio State]] for a few years before being hired by Columbia.

==Deanship==

A longtime teacher of [[Literature Humanities]], Hovde served as dean from [[1968]] to [[1972]], a period marked by the aftermath of the [[1968 protests]] and fundamental changes to the [[Core Curriculum]]. The protests exposed the university's over-centralization, and the nomination process for Hovde's deanship was changed - rather than being appointed by the [[University President]] and approved by the [[Trustees]], he was nominated by a group of faculty members and approved by both the President and Trustees. 

In 1970 Hovde recommended that the College, [[General Studies]], and the undergraduate division of [[SEAS]] be merged into a single division, creating a "single faculty and supporting structure for our undergraduate work. It would grant the Bachelor's degree to young and old, men and women alike, the only criterion for admission being intellectual distinction." <ref>[http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/columbia?a=d&d=cs19701201-01.2.13 Hovde Recommends College, General Studies, Engineering Be Combined Into One Division], Columbia Spectator, 1 December 1970</ref> As Hovde astutely noted, the existing situation "has caused confusion, competition, more than occasional acrimony, and an entirely unnecessary level of administrative expense." Hovde's successor [[Peter Pouncey]] would make a similar call for merger in [[1975]], but added [[Barnard College]] into the mix for good measure.

Hovde is credited with restoring a measure of peace to campus and remained a "stalwart" of the Core. When he stepped down and returned to teaching in 1972, the ''[[Spectator]]'' noted that he “sought to quietly guide the college, not to rule it; to use the force of persuasion and reason, not the blunt power of authority.”

==Post-Deanship==

He received the [[Great Teacher Award]] from the [[Society of Columbia Graduates]] in [[1975]]. After his retirement in [[1995]] he served as chair of the Friends of the Heyman Center and was a member of the [[Society of Senior Scholars]]. Professor Hovde received the [[Award for Distinguished Service to the Core Curriculum]] in [[1997]]-[[1998]]. 

He died on September 5, [[2009]], at 84 years old. A bench opposite the entrance of [[Hamilton Hall]] is dedicated to his memory.

==External links==
*[http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/columbia?a=d&d=cs19701201-01.1.4 Text of Hovde Memorandum on CC/GS/SEAS Merger]
*[http://www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/Magazine/Winter2001/knownFor.html What Columbia College is Known For], an essay by Hovde in ''[[Columbia Magazine]]'' praising [[John Erskine]] and the [[Core Curriculum]]
*[http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2009/09/10/colleagues-mourn-beloved-former-dean Spec obituary]
*[http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/11/nyregion/11hovde.html NY Times obituary]
* Spec Coverage of end of deanship: [http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/columbia?a=d&d=cs19720104-01.2.5]; [http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/columbia?a=d&d=cs19720104-01.2.11]
{{succession|office=Dean of Columbia College|years=[[1968]]-[[1972]]|preceded=[[Henry S. Coleman]] (Acting)|succeeded=[[Peter Pouncey]]}}

== References ==
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[[Category:Deans of Columbia College|Hovde, Carl]]
[[Category:Columbia College alumni|Hovde]]
[[Category:Class of 1950|Hovde]]
[[Category:English professors|Hovde]]
[[Category:Former professors|Hovde]]
[[Category:Van Doren Award recipients|Hovde]]
[[Category:Philosophy majors|Hovde]]
[[Category:Great Teacher Award recipients|Hovde]]
[[Category:Salutatorians|Hovde]]