Arthur Dwight Platt (1907-1988)

Arthur Platt was born on July 14, 1907 on the island of Luzon in the Philippines, where his parents were medical missionaries. He attended the Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts and graduated in 1924. He went on to Trinity College were he received a degree in chemistry and mathematics in 1928. After college Platt attended the Teacher's College, Columbia University, for his master's degree which he earned in 1935. He later took classes in educational administration at Harvard University's graduate school.

In 1928, Platt returned to the Mount Hermon School as a teacher. His tenure there lasted more than thirty years, from 1928 to 1959. He began as a teacher of mathematics and by 1934 he was the dean of students. He was the Director of Studies from 1942 to 1959; during this tenure he also served as the College counselor (1942-1945) and the assistant headmaster (1945-1959). He then became the Executive Assistant to the President and Chief Fiscal Officer and Clerk of the Board of Trustees. In this capacity, he supervised the reorganization of the corporation's internal management policies and practices. The president of the Northfield Schools at this time was Howard Rubendall.

When Rubendall became president of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Platt followed and was installed as assistant to the president on January 1, 1962, remaining as such throughout Rubendall's entire tenure. Rubendall later recalled that he already knew Platt to be "a tireless, self-effacing worker possessed of great skill of analysis, planning, organization, and the handling of detail." (The Sentinel, 5/23/1975) When Rubendall retired in 1975, so did Platt.

On Saturday December 10, 1988, Arthur Platt passed away. He was survived by his wife, Margaret, two daughters, a stepson, six grandchildren, two step-grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.