Service Honors President Pusey

Family, friends and former colleagues of Nathan Marsh Pusey ’28 filled the pews of Memorial Church Friday for a service in honor of the University’s 24th president, who died last November.

The ceremony included eulogies from the three Harvard presidents who served after Pusey—Derek C. Bok, Neil L. Rudenstine and University President Lawrence H. Summers—in one of a handful of times in Harvard’s history that three presidents have gathered together to speak at the same event.

Pusey served as president from 1953 to 1971.

In his speech to the more than 300 attendees, Summers praised Pusey’s willingness to offer advice and support to him just days after he was selected to be Harvard’s 27th president.

“He stressed to me the importance of Harvard College, an institution he loved at the very center of this University,” Summers said. “I saw immediately that this was a man of immense inner strength...dignity, wisdom and grace.”

Rudenstine focused on one of the more tangible changes undertaken by Pusey’s administration—the addition of new buildings such as the Science Center, Peabody Terrace and the Carpenter Center.

“There are certainly some buildings that I would have liked to see deconstructed, then and even now,” Rudenstine quipped, but he lauded Pusey’s “boldness and conviction...[his] desire to alter established patterns.”

Rudenstine also praised Pusey’s commitment to need-blind admissions, “something that we now take too readily for granted.”

Bok, who was selected to succeed Pusey in 1971, said the lessons Pusey taught him played a crucial role in his own presidency.

“He was the ideal predecessor,” Bok said. “He never volunteered advice, but always gave it freely on request.”

Bok said Pusey was dedicated and resolute in his presidency, citing his strong stance on a number of issues, including the importance of diversity in admissions and defense of academic freedom in the face of attacks from Sen. Joseph P. McCarthy.

“In an age of double speak, spin control and other artful dodges, one must admire his courage and quiet strength,” Bok said.

“He knew our foibles as well as anyone,” Bok said. “But what Nate loved was the ideal Harvard.”

A prayer led by Krister Stendahl, dean of the Divinity School during Pusey’s presidency, followed the presidential eulogies. Pusey helped revitalized the Divinity School during his administration.

In addition to religious hymns, the service included performances by the University Choir. And the audience rose to sing “Fair Harvard” in Pusey’s memory.

During his closing blessing, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals and Pusey Minister of Memorial Church Rev. Peter J. Gomes recalled delivering sermons when Pusey and his wife regularly attended church services at Memorial Church.

The service’s location, Gomes noted, was an appropriate memorial for one who valued and prioritized religion at Harvard.

“Mr. Lowell built the church. Mr. Conant tolerated the church. But Mr. Pusey cherished the church,” Gomes said.

The Memorial Church bells sounded in honor of Pusey after Gomes concluded his remarks.

Along with Pusey’s friends and former colleagues, a handful of students attended the service.

Paul A. Gusmorino ’02, who decided to come to the service after Gomes made an announcement last week in his course Religion 1513, “Harvard: Five Centuries and Eight Presidents,” said he appreciated the opportunity to learn about Pusey’s presidency from those who knew him.

“It seems to me like an important community activity to participate in,” Gusmorino said.

Many of Pusey’s former colleagues attended, including former Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III and former Dean of the Faculty Franklin L. Ford, who greeted and ushered guests to the Memorial Church pews.

Senior Corporation Fellow Robert G. Stone Jr. ’45, Secretary of the Faculty John B. Fox Jr. ’59, and Richard Warch—president of Lawrence College, where Pusey served as president before coming to Harvard—also helped usher.

A reception at Loeb House, where Pusey lived during his 18-year Harvard tenure, followed the service.

There, guests reminisced about Pusey’s life and looked at black and white photographs of Pusey and his family placed throughout the reception area. One photograph showed Pusey with former President John F. Kennedy ’40. Another featured Pusey’s wife, Anne, unrolling curtains to be hung in Loeb House.

Fred L. Glimp ’50, who served as dean of admissions and dean of the college under Pusey, said the presidential eulogies and Stendahl’s prayer were a fitting memorial for Harvard’s 24th president.

“Pusey was an amazing and kind of far-sighted and unflappable person, and it was perfect for him,” Glimp said.

—Staff writer Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at shoichet@fas.harvard.edu.