Tom Gerety

Tom Gerety is a philosopher, author, and professor who served as president of Trinity College from 1989 to 1994. He graduated from Yale University in 1976 after receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, a JD, and his PhD. Before his presidency at Trinity, Gerety was a Visiting Professor of Law at Stanford from 1983 to 1984, a Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law from 1978 to 1986, and the Nippert Professor of Law and Dean of the School of Law at the University of Cincinnati from 1986 to 1989.

Tom Gerety, ca. 1989. Photo credit: Trinity College Archives

Gerety was appointed Trinity College's 17th President on July 1, 1989, after a nationwide search by a committee of trustees, faculty, and students chaired by Edward A. Montgomery, Jr. '56. Gerety was inaugurated on September 24 of the same year, and his inaugural address focused on the relationship between Hartford and Trinity, stating that, “the city sustains and surrounds us in all that we do. It is our great classroom—as cities have always been the classroom of humanity.”

In 1990, at Trinity's 20th anniversary celebration of coeducation, Gerety gave a speech called “Gender and Selfhood” where he commemorated the courage of the first women to come to Trinity and emphasized the value of choice in a Trinity education.

Gerety's largest presidential project was called the Strategic Plan for Trinity College, which began in 1990 and became public in 1992. The project had five aims: to nurture excellence in teaching, create a residential environment that promoted intellectual growth, create a “harmonious, inclusive, and stimulating social environment,” improve external views of the College, and develop a “vision” of how Trinity could better its relationship with Hartford. Acting with the Strategic Plan in mind, Trinity established the First-Year Program in 1995 and the Cities Program in 1996. Gerety also began offering his own seminars on ethics, political philosophy, and cities.

Several building projects took place during the Gerety years. Hallden Hall began to house the Fine Arts department, the Visual Resources Collection, and the Gallows Hill Bookstore, and what was then the President's house was converted into an Admissions Center in 1992 to allow the Geretys to move into the city. Also, a new squash center and renovated pool were established in Ferris Athletic Center and the cafeteria in the Koeppel Student Center was remodeled and renamed the Bistro.

In 1994, Gerety announced that he would be leaving Trinity to accept the position of president at Amherst College. Gerety was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. Borden Winslow Painter, Jr. as interim president.

Gerety served as president of Amherst College from 1994 to 2003. From 2003 to 2005, he worked as the Brennan Professor and Executive Director at the Brennan Center of Justice at New York University's School of Law. He then became a Collegiate Professor at New York University in 2005 until his retirement in 2020. He is the author of The Freshman Who Hated Socrates: A College President Reflects on Life in the Liberal Arts, published in November 2007. He also wrote and narrated the PBS series Visions of the Constitution with Judy Woodruff.