Cornelis de Kiewiet

Cornelis Willem de Kiewiet
Provost of Cornell University
In office 1948–1951
Preceded by	Arthur S. Adams
Succeeded by	Forrest F. Hill
Acting President of Cornell University
In office 1949–1951
Preceded by	Edmund Ezra Day
Succeeded by	Deane Waldo Malott
5th President of the University of Rochester
In office 1951–1961
Preceded by	Alan C. Valentine
Succeeded by	W. Allen Wallis
Personal details
Born	May 21, 1902 Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Died	February 15, 1986 (aged 83) Washington, D.C.
Resting place	National Memorial Park, Falls Church, Virginia
Nationality	Dutch
Spouse(s)	Lucea M.
Children	Marie, Christine, John
Alma mater	University of the Witwatersrand, University of London, University of Paris, University of Berlin
Profession	Administrator

Cornelis Willem de Kiewiet (May 21, 1902 – February 15, 1986) was a 20th-century historian most notable for having served as president of Cornell University and the University of Rochester.

De Kiewiet was born in the Netherlands, but grew up in South Africa, where his father went as a diamond and gold-seeker and later worked as an employee of the Transvaal Republic's Railway. In the early 1920s, Cornelis earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in history from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, and, in 1927, he earned his Ph.D. in History from the University of London.

De Kiewiet emigrated to the United States in 1929 when he was offered a position teaching European history at the University of Iowa. In 1941, he joined the faculty of Cornell University, where he taught modern European history and pursued his research interests in British colonial policy, particularly in South Africa. In the mid-1940s, de Kiewiet became dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell and, in 1948, he was named University provost.^[1] The following year, de Kiewiet was appointed Cornell's acting president as well^[2] and served in that position for two years until he was recruited to become president of the University of Rochester in 1951. He served as Rochester's president until his retirement in 1961.^[3] In retirement, de Kiewiet devoted his energies to the issue of higher education in Africa.

There is a residential building at the University of Rochester named after de Kiewiet.

Selected works

• Kiewiet, Cornelis W. de (1929), British Colonial Policy and the South African Republics, 1848–1872, London: Longmans, Green, and Co, OCLC 5003249
• Kiewiet, Cornelis W. de (1966) [1937], The Imperial Factor in South Africa; a Study in Politics and Economics, New York, New York: Russell & Russell, OCLC 414863
• Kiewiet, Cornelis W. de (1941), A History of South Africa, Social and Economic., Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, OCLC 351500
• Kiewiet, Cornelis W. de (1956), The Anatomy of South African Misery, London: Oxford University Press, OCLC 2652336

References

1. Office of the Provost. "Cornelis W. de Kiewiet". History of Cornell's Provosts. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
2. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections and the Cornell News Service. "Edmund Ezra Day". Biographies of Cornell's Presidents. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University. Retrieved 2009-11-03. Cornelis W. de Kiewiet, who had been provost, was appointed acting president upon the resignation of Edmund Ezra Day in 1949
3. Office of the President. "Cornelis de Kiewiet". Presidents of the University. Rochester, New York: University of Rochester. Retrieved 2009-11-03.

External links

• Cornelius W. De Kiewiet papers at the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
• Cornelis de Kiewiet at Find a Grave