John Kneller

John William Kneller, OAP (October 15, 1916 – July 2, 2009) was an English-American French language professor and scholar, and the fifth President of Brooklyn College.

Biography Kneller was born in Oldham, England, to John W. Kneller and Margaret Ann Truslove. Kneller was a Fulbright Scholar in French literature at the University of Paris in 1949-50. In June 1970 Clark University conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Letters, Honoris Causa, "in recognition of his fine accomplishments as a teacher, scholar, and administrator and in gratitude for his wise counsel on behalf of the trustees and faculty of Clark University."

During World War II, Kneller was a translator for the United States Army Air Corps.

He was the fifth President of Brooklyn College from 1969 to 1979. Kneller brought along his horse from Oberlin, and would ride it in Prospect Park. Students occupied his office at the college during a student strike after the Kent State shootings and the Cambodian Campaign in 1970. He terminated classes, but kept campus buildings open for students and faculty. In 1999, the French government awarded him its highest rank -- Commandeur in the Ordre des Palmes Academiques (Order of Academic Palms).

He was married for 61 years to Alice Bowerman Hart. They had a daughter, Linda Hart Kneller.

Kneller died at 92 years of age on July 2, 2009, at his home in Westport, New York.