David B. Truman
David B. Truman served as a Dean of Columbia College and a Provost/Vice President.
His provostship overlapped the 1968 protests, in which he had a central role as President Grayson Kirk's right hand man in the administration camp (albeit retaining student respect to a much greater degree than did Kirk). His memoirs provide a detailed personal account of the protests, which caused him to resign as provost and move on to the presidency of Mt. Holoke College.
Previously, Truman had been a professor who had joined the faculty in 1951 following an academic career at Amherst (BA, 1935) and UChicago (PhD), as well as teaching gigs at Bennington, Cornell, Harvard, and Williams. From 1959-1961, he was head of the department of public law and government (now PoliSci).
The David B. Truman Alumni Award is named for him.
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| Preceded by John W. Alexander (acting) |
Dean of Columbia College 1963-1967 |
Succeeded by Henry S. Coleman (Acting) |
| Preceded by Jacques Barzun |
Provost 1967-1969 |
Succeeded by Paul D. Carter |
