Thomas Ragle

Thomas B. Ragle (November 25, 1927 – November 28, 2023) was an American college president and poet. He was the president of Marlboro College from 1958 to 1981.

Early life and education Ragle was born on November 25, 1927 in Boston, Massachusetts.

He graduated from Shady Hill School and the Phillips Exeter Academy. He graduated from Harvard College with a Bachelor of Arts in ancient Greek history and literature. He then received a BA and MA from the University of Oxford in English language and literature. Marlboro had 50 students when Ragle arrived and about 200 when he retired. Ragle was replaced by Roderick M. Gander, the former chief of correspondents at Newsweek.

From 1981 to 1983, Ragle was a visiting fellow and administrative assistant to the president at the University of Vermont. From 1983 to 1989, he was the director of the Salzburg Global Seminar in Austria. From 1989 to 1991, he was special consultant to the United Nations Development Programme in Beijing, China. He then was a visiting fellow and administrative assistant to the president of Trinity College in Burlington, Vermont. He retired in 1993.

Poetry Ragle wrote poetry under the pen name of Lee Bramble. In 2013, he published a collection of his poems Take This Song: Poems in Pursuit of Meaning.

Personal life Around the same time he became president of Marlboro College, Ragle married his wife Nancy Koch Ragle. Their marriage lasted 58 years, and they raised seven children together.

Ragle died on November 28, 2023, in Bennington, Vermont.