| Robert Francis Goheen | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 August 1919 Vengurla, India |
| Died | 31 March 2008 Princeton, New Jersey |
| Nativity | India |
| Known for | President of Princeton University |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| Arm / service | Infantry |
| ASN | 01283413 |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Rank at Ritchie | First Lieutenant |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 5 (8 February – 9 April 1943) |
| Section | 2 |
| Battles / wars | World War II |
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
Robert Francis Goheen (15 August 1919 – 31 March 2008) was an American classicist and Ritchie Boy who trained at Camp Ritchie in Class 5, rose to lieutenant colonel in Army intelligence, and later served as the 16th president of Princeton University and as United States Ambassador to India.
Biography
Robert Francis Goheen was born on 15 August 1919 in Vengurla, India, where his parents, Anne (Ewing) Goheen and Dr. Robert H. H. Goheen, were serving as Presbyterian medical missionaries. He was educated through the tenth grade at Kodai School in India, moved to the United States in 1934, and finished secondary school at the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey in 1936. At Princeton University he played soccer, won the Moses Taylor Pyne Prize, and graduated summa cum laude with an A.B. in classics in 1940 after a senior thesis titled "A Study of the Nature and Object of Tragedy."
Goheen entered the Army at Fort Dix, New Jersey, on 1 October 1941 (ASN 32181916). In 1942 he married Margaret Skelly. He was commissioned a second lieutenant (ASN 01283413), trained at Camp Ritchie with Class 5 as one of the Ritchie Boys, and was later promoted to first lieutenant; his intelligence training helped him rise to the rank of lieutenant colonel by the end of the war.
After the war Goheen returned to Princeton for graduate study as one of the first four fellows of the Institute for Citizens & Scholars, created to encourage veterans to become teachers, and earned a Ph.D. in classics in 1948 with a dissertation on the imagery of Sophocles' Antigone. He worked at Princeton as a tutor, counselor, and soccer coach, taught classics there as an assistant professor from 1950, and in 1957, at 37, became the university's 16th president, the youngest since the 18th century. Serving until 1972, he encouraged student involvement in decision-making, recruited minority students, hired Princeton's first black administrator and first black full professor, challenged the exclusivity of the eating clubs by opening one run by the university, and oversaw the admission of women in 1969. Under his leadership Princeton built or acquired 38 buildings, quadrupled its budget, doubled alumni giving, and enlarged its faculty by 40 percent, changing from an establishment college into a diversified research university. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1962.
After leaving the presidency Goheen became president of the Council on Foundations in New York and, on 1 January 1977, of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation. That April President Jimmy Carter appointed him United States Ambassador to India, and he served in the country of his birth from 1977 to 1980. He returned to Princeton in 1981 as a member of the faculty of the Woodrow Wilson School (now the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs) and remained active in Asian affairs, including a 1986 Asia Society study mission to the Philippines. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1986. Goheen died in Princeton, New Jersey, on 31 March 2008.
Research notes
- Ambasador to India
- Pacific
- President, Princeton University
- Notable Ritchie Boys slide lists Class 15 (roster currently shows Class 5)
Gallery
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Technical record
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| Approx Age at Death | 89 |
| Class_ASN | 283413 |
| Class_Name | GOHEEN, Robert F. |
| match_method | asn_partial_name_exact |
| row_source | both |
Timeline
- Born 15 August 1919 in Vengurla, India.
- 1934 — Moved to the United States.
- 1936 — Graduated from the Lawrenceville School.
- 1940 — Graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University (A.B., classics).
- 1 October 1941 — Entered Army at Fort Dix NJ as Pvt (ASN: 32181916).
- 1942 — Married Margaret Skelly.
- 1948 — Ph.D. in classics, Princeton University.
- 1957 — 1972 President of Princeton University.
- April 1977 — Appointed United States Ambassador to India (served 1977–1980).
- 31 March 2008 — Died in Princeton, New Jersey.
- Commissioned 2nd Lt. (ASN: 01283413).
- Promoted to 1st Lt.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Robert F. Goheen
- Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
- Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
- NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
- 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Robert F. Goheen for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Goheen, Robert F. for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: ROBERT F. GOHEEN.doc)