John Hyde ’56, professor of history emeritus, died on March 28 at the age of 93. During his 36 years in the College’s faculty, he served as dean of first-year students from 1963 to 1967 and dean of the college from 1967 to 1970. Family members, colleagues, and former students remember him as an active figure in College life — a rigorous teacher, strong supporter of College athletics, and a caring presence in the lives of those who knew him.

Hyde was born in Wichita, Kan., in 1930 and grew up in both Kansas and Wilmington, Del. Though his family had deep roots in Berkshire County and at the College — where his great-great grandfather was among the founders of the Society of Alumni in 1821 — he first came to the Berkshires as an undergraduate at the College. As a student, he was a member of the Zeta Phi fraternity and a Junior Advisor (JA). His time at the College was interrupted when, at the start of 1951, he served in the navy after being drafted during the Korean War. Hyde returned to the College in 1955 upon the completion of his service and graduation as a member of Phi Beta Kappa in June of the following year. 

After earning a master’s degree in history at the University of Minnesota in 1957 and beginning his PhD at Harvard University, he was hired by the College in 1959 as an adjunct instructor and began to teach courses mostly in European history as he finished his doctorate, which he completed in 1963. He served as first-year dean and dean of the college, in addition to his three stints as chair of the history department, before his retirement in 1995. Hyde was also an avid spectator at athletic events and a longtime congregant at St. John’s Episcopal Church on Park Street.

“John was Mr. Williams,” recalled Peter Frost, professor emeritus of history and a colleague and friend of Hyde’s, remembering his dedication to the College community. “He did an awful lot of service for the College.”

By the time that Hyde served in the administration, the College had changed dramatically since his undergraduate years: It phased out fraternities in the early 1960s and admitted the first female full undergraduate students in 1970. “John was very open to the new Williams,” despite being a product of a different era, said Nancy McIntire, the assistant dean who presided over the beginning of coeducation. “While he had been a fraternity member when he was here … he did take time off in the service, and when he returned, I think he already saw a different place. I always felt that John was very supportive of the decision to reduce and then eliminate fraternities and also to admit women.”

Head Coach of Field Hockey Alix Barrale ’93, Hyde’s niece, attributed his openness to change to his interpersonal skills. “He was such a good listener,” she said. “I felt like that is why he could bend with the times as times changed… He was always trying to find connections with people.” 

Another of Hyde’s nieces, Kate Hyde ’96, remembers him as a frank but respectful interlocutor. “He wasn’t shy about sharing his opinion and his concerns about whatever you might bring to the table,” she said. “But he would allow you the same opportunity to speak and … never demean you or make you feel unworthy of having a difference in opinion.”

As dean of first-year students, Hyde, a former JA himself, valued the maintenance of a cooperative relationship with JAs, encouraging them to “to drop by for a chat, for it is only with your help and cooperation that I can perform my duties effectively.” 

Hyde taught rigorous courses and felt strongly about the importance of teaching to the College’s mission. “He took an interest in undergraduates, and for him, that meant being a good teacher,” McIntire said. 

His students recall his high expectations and reputation for cold-calling during class. “It was smart to come to class having done the reading and having an idea about whatever the author’s premise was, because … there was always a chance that you could be called upon,” said his nephew Michael Hyde ’91, who took a class with his uncle during his senior year at the College and later became a high school history teacher. “He would push you: ‘What is your evidence for this?’” 

“I would like to think that he had an influence on me not only graduating with a degree in history but actually pursuing a higher degree,” Michael Hyde added.

John Hyde worried that an increasing emphasis on research output in tenure decisions would undermine the College’s core mission to educated undergraduates. In the spirit of balancing scholarship with teaching, he helped raise funds for a teaching fellowship that now bears his name. “It was important to him that, in this increasingly ‘publish or perish’ world … that the basic gift of this College — that you would get good teaching and student support — would not get lost,” Frost said. 

Today, the three-year John Hyde Teaching Fellowship provides a senior member of the faculty with an annual stipend of $10,000 to develop course offerings that promote interdisciplinary education in the College’s curriculum.

In addition to his commitment to undergraduate teaching, Hyde was an advocate for athletics at the College. “Some faculty were critical of the students in ‘helmet sports,’” Frost recalled. “John was very contemptuous of the faculty who felt that way.” 

“As someone who’s involved in athletics and has sometimes felt … the academic athletic divide, he did such a great job of marrying both, celebrating the importance of both, and how you don’t have to have one or the other,” Barrale added.

In addition to his efforts to ensure the full inclusion of student-athletes in the life of the College, Hyde relished the joy they derived from their sports and was an avid spectator at games. “I knew I could always bump into my uncle, if there was a … game,” Michael Hyde said, noting that soccer, hockey, and basketball were all among his uncle’s favorite sports to watch. “It reflects on someone who was always passionate about supporting the students in the facets of student life besides the rigors of academic work.”

Outside of the classroom, Hyde was a trusted advisor, especially to his nieces and nephews, many of whom attended the College. 

“He was really determined to not only see the potential in students who were struggling and felt lost,” Kate Hyde said. “He really was able to guide them and give them direction.”

“He could sit down with anyone and start a great conversation and make that person feel heard and appreciated,” Barrale added. “He was really great to go to in times of crisis — it could be academic, social, or familial. I felt like he was always able to not impose his opinion but … guide you to find your answer.”

“I can remember him once telling the freshman class three things,” Frost recalled. “One was ‘think about dropping out.’ The second thing was ‘get to know someone you don’t like.’ And the third thing was, ‘choose the course you might fail.’” 

A memorial service for John Hyde will be held on May 9 at 11 a.m. at the Thompson Memorial Chapel, followed by a reception at the Williams Inn from 1 to 3 p.m.