Harold P. Hamilton
 | This article includes a improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (February 2008) ) |
Harold Philip Hamilton | |
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| Born | April 26, 1924 |
| Died | July 1, 2003 (aged 79) Columbus, Ohio, U.S. |
| Resting place | Cave Hill Cemetery Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Alma mater | High Point College (BA) Duke University (BD, PhD) |
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| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  84th Infantry Division |
| Battles/wars | |
Harold Philip Hamilton (April 26, 1924 – July 1, 2003) was a soldier, college president, professor, state government official and charity administrator.
Early life
Hamilton was born in High Point, North Carolina, the youngest of eleven children of a Methodist minister.
Hamilton served during
Hamilton was discharged from the Army in 1945 and returned to
Career
In 1954, he was appointed as a professor at North Carolina State University where he also ran the YMCA. In 1955 Hamilton was appointed Dean of the College and Professor of Christian Thought at Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro, Kentucky. In 1959 at age 35 Hamilton became president of the college. At the time Kentucky Wesleyan was in the midst of steep operating deficits and academic and enrollment problems. Under Hamilton's leadership the college improved its financial situation, quickly mounting operating surpluses, and also greatly increased its enrollment and bolstered its faculty with increased pay and benefits and the addition of many highly regarded new professors. Kentucky Wesleyan reached its peak enrollment during Hamilton's tenure. Successful fundraising also allowed for the construction of several new buildings on the campus; in one campaign Hamilton enlisted the students to raise $250,000 to build a new library, and they did. Hamilton also gave great attention to Kentucky Wesleyan's athletic programs and during his tenure the school, with its student body and athletic teams racially integrated somewhat ahead of many others, won its first few Division II basketball national championships (1966, 1968 and 1969) and established a program that is still today the most successful in Division II competition.
In 1970, after eleven years as president at Kentucky Wesleyan, Hamilton accepted the presidency of
Hamilton left Central Methodist in 1976. He returned to Kentucky and served as Assistant State Treasurer for the state of Kentucky from 1976 through 1980 and as executive director of the Department of Corporations in the
In 1963 and 1965 Hamilton returned to his alma mater,
Personal life
After battling heart problems, Hamilton died in Columbus, Ohio, in 2003 and was buried with military honors at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky. He was survived by his wife, four children, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Further reading and sources
- Central Methodist College 1961–1986, Bartlett C. Jones, editor, Central Methodist College, 1986.
- In Pursuit of the Dream: A History of Kentucky Wesleyan College, by Lee A. Dew and Richard A. Weiss, Kentucky Wesleyan College Press/Progress Printing Company, 1992.
- Dew, Lee A., Kentucky Wesleyan College, The Kentucky Encyclopedia, John E. Kleber, editor in chief, The University Press of Kentucky, 1992.