Joseph B. Platt, founding president of Harvey Mudd College (HMC) died at his Claremont home on Tuesday, July 10, 2012 after a period of declining health. He was 96.
An accomplished physicist, Mr. Platt took the helm as HMC’s founding president in 1956 and led the institution through 2 decades of growth to national acclaim as a premiere engineering, math and science college.
After stepping down from HMC, Mr. Platt served from 1976 to 1981 as the eighth president of Claremont Graduate School and University Center (now Claremont Graduate University). He returned to HMC in 1981 as the senior professor of physics and taught well into his 90s.
