Robert A. Oden
title: "Robert A. Oden" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["dartmouth-college-faculty", "living-people", "1946-births", "presidents-of-carleton-college", "presidents-of-kenyon-college", "people-from-vermillion,-south-dakota", "harvard-university-alumni", "marshall-scholars"] topic_path: "society/education" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Oden" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Robert Oden |
| order | 10th President of Carleton College |
| term_start | 2002 |
| term_end | 2010 |
| predecessor | Stephen Lewis |
| successor | Steven G. Poskanzer |
| order2 | 22nd President of Kenyon College |
| term_start2 | 1995 |
| term_end2 | 2002 |
| predecessor2 | Philip H. Jordan |
| successor2 | S. Georgia Nugent |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Vermillion, South Dakota, United States |
| alma_mater | Harvard University |
| Cambridge University | |
| nationality | American |
| :: |
| name = Robert Oden | image = | order = 10th President of Carleton College | office = | term_start = 2002 | term_end = 2010 | predecessor = Stephen Lewis | successor = Steven G. Poskanzer | order2 = 22nd President of Kenyon College | term_start2 = 1995 | term_end2 = 2002 | predecessor2 = Philip H. Jordan | successor2 = S. Georgia Nugent | birth_date = | birth_place = Vermillion, South Dakota, United States | alma_mater = Harvard University Cambridge University | spouse = | children = | nationality = American Robert Allen Oden Jr. (; born September 11, 1946) is a former professor and college administrator. He was the president of Kenyon College from 1995 to 2002{{cite web |url = http://www.kenyon.edu/x1147.xml |title = Kenyon College's Presidents |accessdate = 2011-02-23 |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://archive.today/20121214183631/http://www.kenyon.edu/x1147.xml |archivedate = 2012-12-14 |url = http://www.kenyon.edu/x51711.xml |title = Kenyon in the News 2009 |accessdate = 2011-02-23 |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110719221437/http://www.kenyon.edu/x51711.xml |archivedate = 2011-07-19
Biography
Oden was born in Vermillion, South Dakota. He graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University. He then earned a second bachelor's degree and a master's from Cambridge University (where he was a Marshall Scholar) and a master's in theology and a Ph.D. in near Eastern languages and literatures from Harvard. He served on the faculty of Dartmouth College as a professor of religion from 1972 to 1989, where he was the first recipient of Dartmouth's Distinguished Teaching Prize.
Oden then served in administrative positions, first as headmaster of The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut from 1989 to 1995, and afterwards as president of Kenyon College from 1995 to 2002, when he accepted the presidency at Carleton College. While president he held a faculty appointment in the religion department at Carleton, and regularly taught a fly-fishing course at the college.{{cite web | url = http://www.kenyon.edu/x7567.xml | title = Kenyon in the News | accessdate = 2011-02-23
Oden is a longtime recreational runner who enjoyed the trails of Northfield's Cowling Arboretum, and is also an avid fly-fisherman.
After retiring from Carleton, Oden moved to Hanover, New Hampshire, where he served as chair of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center board of trustees.
References
References
- "Robert A. Oden - KCpedia".
- "Robert A. Oden, Carleton's 10th President - Carleton College".
- "Prof. Robert A. Oden, Jr. PhD named Chair of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Board of Trustees {{!}} Vermont Business Magazine".
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