Leonard Carmichael
President, 1938 - 1952
“The familiar, warm, topcoated figure with a word of greeting for every student and genuine concern for their activities.”
– Richard Goodwin, Associate Editor, editorial in The Tufts Weekly, December 18, 1952
Goddard Chapel was packed to capacity on the morning of Leonard Carmichael’s inauguration, with extra chairs crowding the aisles and a loudspeaker in Braker Hall broadcasting the proceedings to the crowds of students who hadn’t come early enough to secure a seat. A respected psychologist and Tufts alumnus with professorial experience at Princeton, Brown, and the University of Rochester, Carmichael held a deep interest in the College. As a student (‘21) he was an editor of and frequent contributor to the Tufts Weekly, even publishing editorials on the work of the president at the time, John Cousens. After he was inaugurated, Carmichael said of Cousens’ term that he hoped to “help to maintain the momentum of this sound growth. In many ways Tufts seems to me to have one of the most attractive futures of any educational institution in this country."
As president, Carmichael worked to elevate Tufts. Despite lingering economic issues brought on by the Depression, he saw the College through the construction of Bray Laboratory (atop the old reservoir), the bookstore, Carmichael Hall, and Jackson Gym, as well as new affiliations with the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Boston School of Occupational Therapy in 1946. These were achieved in part due to Carmichael’s continuations of Cousens’ efforts to strengthen Tufts’ alumni network and run a more focused publicity campaign. The student body also experienced growth; by 1945, every U.S. state was represented among Tufts students.
Carmichael is perhaps best known for his intense devotion of Tufts' resources to aid the country during World War II. He established the Tufts NROTC program in 1941, followed closely by the V-12 program in 1943, which brought hundreds of new students and officers to campus and transformed the College’s schedule and course offerings. Campus itself was transformed as well, with buildings and outdoor space devoted to housing officers and veterans, training areas, victory gardens, and more. The NROTC program remained a part of Tufts until the 1970s.
After leaving Tufts, Leonard Carmichael became the seventh secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in 1953.