Francis Oakley was the former president of Williams College, and the former director of The Clark Art Institute. The Echo interviewed him as part of our Meet Your Neighbor column where we talk with residents of Sweetwood who live just a building from our school.
Echo: What was it like growing up in England in the late 1930s?
Francis Oakley: My family was Irish, not English, but I went to school in England. What was it like in the late 30s? It was the sense that war was coming all the time, a very heavy, worried period. September 1, 1939 Hitler invaded Poland. Because I was only seven, my school just closed. It was miserable, my mother was very worried, because in England, you had to pass an examination at the age of 10 to get to high school. She was worried I could fail with no school so she taught me. She had left school at 14 in Ireland, but she was a good teacher and rather demanding. However I did pass the examination and received a scholarship. I went to a Jesuit school, which was in Liverpool. And then from there I went to Oxford University, where I did pretty well.
Echo: How was your experience as a student in higher education and how did you come to be a historian?
Oakley: I came to be a historian because of a very, very good teacher. That’s what nudged me in that direction, and Oxford is very good in history. When I graduated, I was given what was called a Commonwealth traveling scholarship. I could go anywhere in The British Commonwealth to any university for two years. I went to Toronto, Canada because I wanted to study late medieval philosophy. And I spent two years there and when I finished I went home. I was allowed to postpone my military service to go to Canada. So when I got home, I really just had a medical exam then went straight into the infantry.
Echo: What drew you to Williams College and Williamstown?
Oakley: I had a fellowship to go back to Oxford to do a PhD, but there seemed to be no jobs in England at the time, so it was a difficult decision. I decided to pursue careers over here, and thought I should go to a good American graduate school. I knew only about Harvard and Yale so I applied to them, got graduate fellowships to both, and then decided to go to Yale. I finished up my PhD in two years and before I was finished, I was offered a job at Yale as a junior member of the History Department. I could have spent probably six years there, but we left after two when I was approached by Williams for a job in the History Department here.
Echo: I know you were the president of Williams College for many years. How did you come to such an important role within the college? What were some of your biggest achievements and challenges?
Oakley: I was teaching medieval history and I was interested in the institution. I was appointed Dean of the Faculty, which is the number two job, which I did for eight years. When John Chandler, my predecessor, decided it was time to step down, the trustees elected me as president. The main difficulty I faced was often the behavior of students, which at that time was mainly race driven protests. We also began the tutorial program at Williams, which is distinctive in American colleges, and it’s attracted some terrific students here (The tutorial program is an individual based class where only two students work with a professor). I also built the Jewish religious center at Williams.
Echo: Do you have any advice for Greylock students as they make decisions about their future educational paths?
Oakley: I would say to not get too worked up about going to famous places. There are very good colleges all around the states with good teachers. I think you should get good advice from a teacher who is willing to help you.
