Quick Facts
Biography
Thomas Hedley Reynolds was the fifth president of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine and an American historian. He is known for widely expanding Bates' national reputation for scholarship and academic rigor. Reynolds increased faculty salaries exponentially and attracted many high quality professors. A pioneer of gender equality, he improved gender equity within the college administration as well as dramatically lowering the student to faculty ratio.
He was instrumental in the guidance of Bates College through the campus tensions of the late 1960s and 1970s with an emphasis on community engagement in the decision-making of the college.
He led Bates to strengthen its faculty and curriculum, add such key facilities as a modern library and arts center, diversify its student body and eliminate the SAT requirement.
Early life and education
Thomas Reynolds was born in New York to Wallace and Helen (Hedley) Reynolds. He attended The Browning School in New York City and graduated from Deerfield Academy in 1938. Reynolds earned a B.A. in political science from Williams College in 1942 and then a Master's (1947) and Ph.D. (1953) in American history from Columbia University.
During World War II, Reynolds served as a tank commander in Europe and received various decorations for his service.
Academic career
After obtaining a Ph.D., Reynolds became an author and history professor at Middlebury College before becoming president of Bates College in 1967.
Bates College
As president Reynolds hired dozens of new professors and expanded Bates' national reputation for scholarship. He led Bates to strengthen its faculty and curriculum, add such key facilities as a modern library and arts center, diversify its student body and eliminate the SAT requirementReynolds initiated Bates' Short Term and was responsible for building many buildings on campus such as the George and Helen Ladd Library and Merrill Gymnasium. During the Vietnam era Reynolds joined with students in peacefully protesting the War. Reynolds retired in 1989. The Thomas Hedley Reynolds history professorship was endowed in Reynold's honor. Reynolds died in 2009.