Joseph F. Hudnut '09 Dies, Was Dean of Design School

Funeral services will be held today for Joseph F. Hudnut '09, dean emeritus of the School of Architecture, who died of pneumonia Monday in Norwood.

Hudnut, 81, came to Harvard in 1936 from Columbia--where he had been dean of Architecture--to take over the School here. He remained dean until his retirement in 1953. In that year, Hudnut was succeeded by Jose Luis Sert, who has announced that he will retire at the end of next year.

As dean, Hudnut brought to the Harvard Faculty Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer, both important members of Germany's Bauhaus Institute. Hudnut worked with these men to gain acceptance for Bauhaus techniques in America.

Popular Works

In addition to many technical books and articles, Hudnut wrote three popular works: Architecture and the Spirit of Man, Three Lamps of Modern Architecture, and Modern Sculpture.

At Harvard, Hudnut coordinated the University's School of Architecture, School of Landscape Architecture, and School of Regional Planning, into the Graduate School of Design.

Prior to his work at Harvard and Columbia, Hudnut served as professor of Architecture at Alabama Polytechnic Institute, and as professor of Architecture and director of the McIntire School of Fine Arts at the University of Virginia from 1923 to 1926.

He became a professor of the History of Architecture at Columbia in 1926 and was apointed dean seven years later.

In 1950 he was apointed to the nation's Fine Arts Commission by President Truman.