Lawrence A. Kimpton

Who was Lawrence A. Kimpton?

Lawrence Alpheus Kimpton was an American philosopher and educator, and a president of the University of Chicago. He earned a B.A. at Stanford and a Ph.D. in philosophy at Cornell University, and he taught at Deep Springs College before joining Chicago as a professor of philosophy in 1943.

Robert Maynard Hutchins, then president of the University, invited Kimpton for an interview in 1944. Kimpton recalled Hutchins's questions thus:

Don't you think the University is lousy? Don't you think the great books are great? And isn't the function of an educational institution to educate? Kimpton assented to these propositions, so Hutchins asked, do you know anything about student personnel administration? Kimpton replied, not a thing. At this, Hutchins arose, shook his hand, and congratulated him on being the new dean of students.

Kimpton addressed a variety of academic and budget problems before stepping down in 1960.

In 1958, Kimpton, then Chancellor of the University of Chicago, suppressed the "beat edition" of the university's publication THE CHICAGO REVIEW. In 1958 the REVIEW was edited by then University of Chicago student Irving Rosenthal.