Photograph: Ports Bishop
Acclaimed scholar of Asian thought, original architect of the Core Curriculum’s Global Core program and a leader in the Columbia community, Wm. Theodore “Ted” de Bary CC’41, GSAS’53 passed away on July 14, 2017, at 97.
De Bary entered Columbia College as a scholarship student in 1937 and spent more than 70 years at Columbia as a student, professor and provost. In a Fall 2013 feature in Columbia College Today, he was called “one of the towering figures of modern Columbia history,” a phrase used in his July 17, 2017 obituary in The New York Times.
In 2013, President Barack Obama CC’83 awarded de Bary the National Humanities Medal. This May, he graded his last papers for his spring courses, “Nobility and Civility” and “Asian Humanities.”
Fall 2017 issue of Columbia College Today will feature a full obituary.
Related:
- “Columbia College mourns the loss of Wm. Theodore de Bary CC’41, GSAS’53”, Columbia College News & Updates, July 19, 2017
- “Loyal to His Core”, Columbia College Today, Fall 2013
