BROOKLYN – Dr. John W. Kneller, who went from being a French professor and scholar to being president of Brooklyn College during the tempestuous, protest-filled 1970s, died at 82 on July 2 at his home in Westport, N.Y.

“As a proud graduate of Brooklyn College,� said Borough President Marty Markowitz, “I understand how much its reputation as a world-class institution has always depended on the hard work and keen guidance of the school’s administration. Dr. Kneller assumed the office of the presidency around the time I was graduating, and I remember those days as particularly tumultuous for Brooklyn College and all institutions of higher learning. Being a college president requires a steady hand, but also a fertile mind and an empathetic heart. Dr. Kneller had all three.�

Born on Oct. 15, 1916 in Oldham, England, he was the son of John W. Kneller and Margaret Ann Truslove, the youngest of four brothers. By age 5, he immigrated to Worcester, Mass. and later became a U.S. citizen. He earned a BA from Clark University, and MA and PhD degrees from Yale University. During World War II, he served as a translator for the Army Air Corps.

Dr. Kneller began his career in higher education in 1950 at Oberlin College, where he advanced from French instructor to professor to department chair to dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and then to provost. In 1969, he became president of Brooklyn College.

His office was occupied by students during a student strike after Kent State and Cambodia during the spring of 1970. In response, he terminated classes but made sure campus buildings were open for student and faculty use. Further sit-ins at his office ensued during the next few years: when disabled students demanded access ramps to campus buildings; and when a fight erupted about the choice of a chair for the Puerto Rican Studies Program.

Dr. Kneller left Brooklyn College in 1979. He was proud of the high number of students who were accepted to law and medical school, of the reputation of many of its departments, and that the college had been able to weather the storm, according to the DUMBO Books of Brooklyn blog.

Brooklyn College’s current president, Dr. Christoph Kimmich, said, “Dr. Kneller faced significant challenges as president of the College, ranging from the implementation of the university’s open admissions policy to dealing with the impact and consequences of New York City’s financial crisis in 1976, and he met them with determination and skill.�

Starting in 1979, he taught French literature at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center until 1995, when he became professor emeritus. He was co-chair of the Henri Peyre Institute for the Humanities at the CUNY Graduate Center and managing editor and editor-in-chief of the French Review. In 1999, the French government bestowed upon him its highest rank of Commandeur in the Ordre des Palmes Academiques (Order of Academic Palms).

He also was an avid squash and racquetball player, a horseman and a jazz bass player, as well as a member of the Yale Club and the Century Association.

He is predeceased by his wife of 61 years, Alice Bowerman Hart, and survived by his daughter, Linda Hart Kneller of Brooklyn, and several nieces and nephews. Contributions can be made to the John W. Kneller Scholarship Fund, Clark University, 950 Main St., Worcester, Mass. 01610.

— Raanan Geberer
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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