Arthur Howard Hughes
Arthur Howard Hughes M'38, H'46 was a professor of German who served as acting president of Trinity College twice: from 1943 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1953. He began teaching at Trinity in 1935 as an Assistant Professor of German and served as Dean of the College beginning in 1940.
Hughes's first term came after the sudden death of President Remsen Ogilby in 1943. Hughes's biggest challenge was the presence of the V-12 unit, a Navy training program on campus. Hughes was allegedly so successful in his first acting term that many believed he would be appointed president permanently, but G. Keith Funston '32 was appointed president in 1944. Hughes went back to teaching German and being the Dean of the College.
When President Funston left Trinity in 1951, Hughes once again became acting president. At this point, he was the favorite of many students and alumni for the next president and the Trinity Tripod advocated for his appointment even though he had already announced that he was not a candidate. Hughes used his second term to advocate for a higher religious presence on college campuses and still worked as a dean, professor, and statistician for the Registrar's Office during his presidency. During his second term, Hughes enacted multiple successful programs, including a Junior Advisory System in which juniors served as mentors to freshmen, as well as a series of carillon concerts. Additionally, he established a language lab and recruited German university students to teach German courses at Trinity. Hughes's second term came to an end with the appointment of President Albert Jacobs in 1953.
In 1954, Hughes was elected Vice President of the College. Today, the Arthur H. Hughes Award for Achievement in Teaching is given annually to faculty who have served for less than nine years.
Sources
Trinity College in the Twentieth Century: A History (2000) by Peter and Anne Knapp, pp. 104, 117-162, 177-183.