Board of Trustees Begins Transition Actions
BRYN MAWR, PA (September 27, 2006) – Dr. Charles H. Trout, President of Harcum College (www.harcum.edu) since 2002, died today at Bryn Mawr Hospital. He was undergoing treatment for complications arising from Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), a relatively rare form of blood cancer in which the bone marrow does not produce enough healthy blood cells. He was 70-years-old.
“Higher education in general and Harcum College in particular have lost a champion,” said Dennis S. Marlo, Chair of the Harcum Board of Trustees. “We are extremely grateful to everything Chuck did for the College. Were it not for his leadership, energy, enthusiasm, and hard work Harcum would not be in the strong position it is in today.”
Dr. Trout took over the helm at the two-year school during a very challenging period for the College. Enrollments for the fall 2002 term were less than 200 students, and the College had a total student body of fewer than 500. Today, Harcum is a robust campus of over 850 students (nearly 400 new students this fall), with lively programs in Nursing, Radiologic Technology, Sports Management, and Criminal Justice, to name just a few.
A short list of Dr. Trout’s accomplishments at Harcum, in addition to growing enrollments, include:
- The development and implementation of a long-range plan for the College. This “roadmap” for Harcum plots where the College will be in terms of academics, enrollments, and vision between the time Dr. Trout took the helm and 2010.
- The addition of successful new academic programs, including Nursing, Radiologic Technology, Criminal Justice, and Sports Management. Today Harcum College is a major provider of professionals to the fields of nursing, radiologic technology, veterinary technology, dental hygiene, and dental assisting.
- The resurrection of intercollegiate athletics; since 2002, the College has introduced women’s basketball, men’s basketball, women’s volleyball, and in the Spring of 2007 it will field a co-educational track and field team. The women’s basketball team won its regional championship in the 2005 – 2006 season.
- The construction and opening of a refurbished dental clinic, opening a state-of-the-art nursing lab, and building an on-campus radiology lab and classroom.
- The expansion of Harcum’s School of Continuing Studies, which currently runs classes on the Harcum campus and throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
- Overseeing an increase in charitable giving; it was during Dr. Trout’s time at Harcum that the College broke the $1 million barrier in annual donations, a considerable accomplishment considering that the previous high mark in annual fund raising was slightly under $250,000.
- Bringing co-education into the fold; the College, which had been accepting males since the mid 1970s, officially became co-ed in 2003 and now has over 140 male students.
- Successfully managing the College’s re-accreditation process with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
“Perhaps his biggest contribution to the College has been his infectious enthusiasm and optimism,” said Mr. Marlo. “Chuck made everyone a believer in the great things that Harcum can achieve.”
Charles Hathaway Trout was born November 3, 1935 in Seattle Washington. He earned his B.A. from Amherst College, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University. His Doctoral Dissertation was titled “Boston During the Great Depression, 1929 – 1940,” and was the basis for his best-selling book, “Boston, The Great Depression, and The New Deal.”
During his career he has worked in virtually every niche of higher education. He was an admissions counselor at Amherst, a history teacher at The Hill School in Pottstown, PA and later at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, N.H. He taught history at Mount Holyoke College, and from 1973 to 1979 served as Chairman of the History Department at Mount Holyoke. He later was Provost and Dean of Faculty at Colgate University, and from 1990 to 1995 served as the 24th President of Washington College in Chestertown, MD. His accomplishments at Washington College include the development of a long-range plan, growth of enrollment and the substantial growth of the College’s endowment.
In the late 1990s, working through the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help (IFESH), he taught history to school children in Litein, Kenya. Dr. Trout was enthralled with the assignment. Writing about the experience in the Washington College alumni magazine in 1998, he wrote: “After fifteen years on the front lines of academic administration, Katherine and I discovered another world where we could flourish, but it was a very different kind of place than any we had known. This was a world where meetings began with prayers for a successful outcome. This was a place where students stood up when we entered the classroom and then would say in unison, ‘Good morning, sir (pronounced "suh"),’ or ‘Good morning, madame.’ ‘How are you today, wanafunzi?’ ‘We are very well, suh/madame.’ We liked it.”
Dr. Trout is survived by his wife, Katherine Taylor Trout; two sons, Nicholas H. of Virginia Beach, VA; Benjamin C. of South Portland, Maine; and a daughter, Katherine D. Griffiths of Cambridge, MA. Dr. Trout resided in The President’s House on the campus. When not on Harcum’s campus, Dr. Trout maintained homes in Chestertown, MD and North Sandwich, N.H. Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later time.
“The Harcum College Board of Trustees, as well as the entire Harcum community expresses their condolences to Katherine and the family,” Mr. Marlo said. He said that the Executive Committee of the Harcum Board of Trustees has activated its succession plan, which will be announced tomorrow.
“Chuck put a strong senior management team in place,” Mr. Marlo said. “I am very confident that work will continue smoothly at Harcum as we enter this transition phase.”
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