Stephen J. Ford ’69, the dean’s son, said that the stress of those tumultuous days had a harmful effect on his father, who suffered a mild stroke within a month of the University Hall takeover.
“I think he believed deeply in the traditional values of a university—freedom of expression and thought, a collegial search for understanding, rigorous scholarship and intense debate,” Stephen Ford said. “I think that was behind a lot of his disappointment with what happened at Harvard in those days. He was under an awful lot of strain.”
Stephen Ford said that despite his father’s anti-war stance the dean nevertheless considered the student uprising a “dangerous and destructive exercise that went against the fabric of the University.”
“He signed on to build a better faculty and curriculum, to advance work that he had begun earlier in his career to develop a broader and more diverse student body. He did not relish that time,” Stephen Ford said.
Though he tended to stay out of the political fray on campus, Ford spoke out against the Vietnam war in a Commencement speech in 1967, and was one of several top American educators to pay a visit to President Johnson that year to express concern for the repercussions of the war on foreign policy, the nation and higher education.
Despite the chaos that marked Harvard during the 1960s, Ford’s tenure was also a time of pronounced growth for Harvard.
“Many remember his time particularly because of 1969, with the occupation of University Hall and the great debates in the Faculty on the Vietnam war,” Kirby said. “But we should also remember that he was dean for eight years and oversaw a great period of expansion—in many ways, he helped to create what is now modern Harvard.”
The most visible remnant of Ford’s deanship is the physical expansion he oversaw.
Ford also worked to expand Harvard’s student body. In 1960, he chaired a committee that recommended a diversification of Harvard students, and he worked tirelessly to broaden recruitment practices and provide more financial aid opportunities throughout his tenure as dean.
Indeed, Ford was a committee enthusiast—not only did he sit on several committees, including the Educational Policy Committee, during his 40 year career at Harvard, but he also authorized and presided over many as a dean.
In 1964, Ford set up a committee to review and amend the 20-year-old General Education program. While he concluded that the system was still adequate, he helped to modernize the curriculum by allowing faculty members more freedom in their courses.
Ford retired in 1991, but remained a professor emeritus at the University.
Ford is survived by his wife of 59 years, Eleanor R. Ford, two sisters, two sons and a granddaughter.
A memorial service will be held at Harvard in the fall, according to University officials.
—Staff writer Rebecca D. O’Brien can be reached at robrien@fas.harvard.edu.