Louis T. Benezet

Louis Tomlinson Benezet (June 29, 1915 in La Crosse, Wisconsin – January 23, 2002 in Mill Valley, California) was an American educator, education administrator and president at four U.S. universities. He was the son of Louis P. Bénézet, a professor at Dartmouth College.

Biography

Education He received his B.A. at Dartmouth College in 1936, his MA in psychology at Reed College in 1939, and his Ph.D. in college and educational administration at Columbia University in 1942.

Career In 1943, he was an Associate Professor of Psychology at Knox College. His 1943 work General Education in the Progressive College explores the educational system at three progressive colleges, namley Sarah Lawrence College and Bard College in New York and Bennington College in Vermont.

From 1963 to 1970 he was president of Claremont Graduate School and University Center in Claremont, California. As president of Claremont, he left a nationally important legacy, since he organized a change in the "College Rating System", introducing a system which reflected the actual performance of alumni in later life, by following-up on former students with greater efficiency. From 1970 to 1976 he was president of the State University of New York at Albany.

Benezet took the view that there had been too much of a readiness to accept the claims of private higher education to improve economic efficiency, the personal treatment of students, to set high standards, and encourage diversity.