Former Yale president dies at 99

BY WILLIAM PORAYOUW & SARAH COOK STAFF REPORTERS

Howard R. Lamar GRD ’51, former dean, University president and Sterling professor of history at Yale, died on Wednesday at the age of 99.

Lamar, who served as University president from 1992 to 1993, as well as dean of Yale College from 1979 to 1985, began his career at Yale as a professor of “History of the American West” — a year-long lecture class that he taught for nearly four decades. Lamar also served as chair of the history department and wrote several books, including “The New Reader’s Encyclopedia of the American West.” His legacy at Yale will continue under the Howard R. Lamar Center for the Study of Frontiers and Borders.

George Miles ’74 GRD ’77, former curator of the West Americana collection at the Beinecke, first met Lamar as a senior undergraduate at Yale. After Miles graduated, Lamar served as his advisor and suggested he apply for the Beinecke curatorial position — a job Miles never considered before Lamar’s suggestion and ended up working at for 41 years.

“He was an extraordinarily transformative influence on my life,” Miles said “I’m not unique in that there are dozens and dozens of people across the country who would tell you a similar story.”

Among those people is Jay Gitlin ’71 MUS ’74 GRD ’82, who continued to take classes with Lamar as a graduate student at Yale School of Music after taking his signature lecture course as an undergraduate. Lamar later served as Gitlin’s mentor when he got his PhD in history at Yale.

Gitlin described Lamar’s personality as “utterly genial,” remembering his sense of humor and beaming smile, as well as his ability to bring people together. This “knack for creating a sense of family,” according to Gitlin, may be attributed to his upbringing in the South. Lamar grew up in rural Alabama and attended Emory University. “He saw people,” Gitlin said. “He saw people because there was a sense of closeness and because he understood what we all have in common, so I think he was able to cross barriers in ways that others weren’t.”

As Miles has gotten older, he said he has come to appreciate the remarkable quality of Lamar’s “generosity of spirit” more and more.

BY WILLIAM PORAYOUW STAFF REPORTER

The University Council, Yale’s highest presidential advisory body, will be in talks at the end of March with University President Peter Salovey over the status of free expression on campus.

Salovey told the News that the Council, which was established in 1947 as the only general volunteer leadership advisory body appointed by the Yale Corporation, will be asked to share their insight on the “free exchange of ideas” at Yale. The 30 members of the body, which includes General Motors chief economist Elaine Buckberg ’89 and U.S. congressional representative Sheila Jackson Lee ’72, are to provide ideas on how to improve free inquiry at Yale, according to Salovey. The Council will also produce recommendations on how to foster “productive, open conversations” across campus. “We’ll be promoting a culture on campus in which all points of view are welcome,” Salovey said in an interview with the News.

While the Council has influence over administrative decisions, Salovey told the News that not every piece of advice they offer is able to be implemented — however, he added that the University administration has “tried a