Kingman Brewster, Jr.
Kingman Brewster, Jr., (
June 17,
1919 -
November 8,
1988) was an educator, President of
Yale University, and an
American diplomat. He graduated from Yale in
1941, where he was chairman of the "Yale Daily News", and received his law degree from
Harvard Law School in
1948. After teaching at Harvard Law School from
1950 to
1960, he accepted the post of
Provost at Yale, serving from
1960 to
1963. Upon the death of President A. Whitney Griswold, he was named President of
Yale University, serving from
1963 to
1977. He was known for the improvements he made to Yale's faculty, curriculum, and admissions policies, and for his skillful handling of student protests during the protests against the
Vietnam War, which he himself opposed. His presidency was also marked by the Black Panther trial and the admission of women as undergraduates. After leaving Yale, he served as United States Ambassador to the Court of St. James (
i.e. the United Kingdom) from
1977 to
1981 and later was Master of
University College,
University of Oxford, serving from
1986 until his death there in
1988. He is interred in
Grove Street Cemetery, in
New Haven, Connecticut.