Henry C. Moses
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dr. Henry Clay Moses (18 August 1941 – 16 April 2008) was an American educator. A teacher, college administrator, and school headmaster, he instituted important changes while the dean of freshmen at Harvard College and helped to lead Trinity School into its third century. A dedicated outdoorsman, he enjoyed running, cycling, backpacking, and mountain climbing.
Born 18 August 1941 in Washington, D.C. to Henry C. Moses, a vice-president of the Mobil Oil corporation,[1] and Barbara Frost Moses, he attended New Rochelle High School in New Rochelle, New York and then Princeton University (1963) and Cornell University (1968) with a PhD in English. He had two sisters: Margery Phillips and Catherine Barber.[1]
The Manhattanville years
From 1973 to 1977, Moses was dean of students and then vice president for student development at Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York. In addition to his administrative duties, he also taught a creative writing course.[1]
The Harvard years
Moses was the dean of freshmen at Harvard College from 1977 to 1991.[2] There he was responsible for the academic and residential welfare of 1600 freshmen. He served as a member of faculty committees on admissions and financial aid, expository writing, advising and counseling, housing, and undergraduate life, Phillips Brooks House, and the administrative board of Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges. "Hank was a superb Harvard colleague: wise, funny, respectful of tradition but able to think out of the box, courageous, and kind," recalls the current Harvard College Dean of Freshmen Tom Dingman. "His analytical ability was sharp as was his capacity to understand and relate to students and faculty. During his tenure here he built a very strong staff and started programs like the Freshman Outdoor Program that have become critical to our success. Trinity's gain was our loss. Now we all will miss him."
While at Harvard Moses served on special committees and working groups on race relations, alcohol and drug abuse, death and dying, disciplinary reform, intercollegiate athletes, academic policies and procedures, academic assessment, and survey research.
As a lecturer in American literature at Harvard University (1980–1984), Moses taught a survey course in American literature, lectured on Mark Twain and Henry James, and created and taught an upperclassmen course on William Faulkner.
Moses served on both the faculties (lecturing in English) and in the dean's offices of Cornell University, Princeton University, and the University of Virginia.[1] He was the dean of students (1973–1974) and then the vice-president for student development (1975–1977) at Manhattanville College, where he also taught several courses in the English Department.
