FORD, Franklin L(ewis) 1920-2003

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born December 26, 1920, in Waukegan, IL; died August 31, 2003, in Lexington, MA. Historian, educator, and author. Ford was a former professor and dean at Harvard University, and was often remembered for facing down student protestors there during Vietnam War protests. After receiving his B.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1942, he served in the Office of Strategic Services—the forerunner of the C.I.A.—during World War II. He then returned to his studies and earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1950. From 1949 to 1952 he taught at Bennington College in Vermont, then he joined Harvard as an assistant professor, becoming a professor of European history in 1958, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences from 1962 to 1970, and McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History from 1968 until his retirement as professor emeritus in 1991. While serving as dean in 1969, Ford summoned police to put down a student protest that had resulted in the takeover of the university's administration building. Although this earned him some national recognition in the news, his book publications are more relevant to his career and include Robe and Sword: The Regrouping of the French Aristocracy after Louis XIV (1953), Strasbourg in Transition, 1648 to 1789 (1958), Europe, 1780-1830 (1969), and Political Murder: From Tyrannicide to Terrorism (1985).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, September 5, 2003, Section 1, p. 11.

Los Angeles Times, September 4, 2003, p. B13.

New York Times, September 3, 2003, p. A17.

Washington Post, September 6, 2003, p. B7.