 In Memoriam: Henry Broude,
Adviser to Three Yale Presidents
Henry W. Broude, the Philip G. Bartlett Professor Emeritus of Economics and History who
served as adviser to the president during three Yale administrations, died of cancer on
Jan. 15 in Branford, Connecticut. He was 81.
Broude, who was appointed at Yale in 1954, was an economic historian on Yale's faculty
when then-Provost Kingman Brewster asked his help with several crises. From that moment,
through the presidential eras of Brewster, A. Bartlett Giamatti and Benno C. Schmidt Jr.,
Broude was an influential contributor to presidential decisions both major and minor.
First as director of academic planning from 1963 to 1972, then as adviser to the president
from 1972 to 1992, Broude helped see the University through many important moments: the
protests in New Haven over the Black Panther trial in 1970; the advent of coeducation;
labor strikes; periods of financial constraint; major facilities and architectural
initiatives; and great flux and development in Yale's professional schools. Working much
of the time from an office adjoining the Yale president's, he was noted for his skills at
gathering information, promoting and smoothing relations with faculty and for aiding three
Yale leaders — with their different temperaments and styles — in making
decisions on a wide range of challenging issues.
Often known as the "eminence grise" of Yale, Broude was also famously
discreet, even to the point of shredding the most inconsequential telephone messages, his
colleagues recall. He preferred to remain in the background, never responding to
journalists or giving interviews about any person or subject, even after his retirement.
His friends and colleagues say he never repeated a confidence or betrayed one. Well known
as the institutional memory of Yale, he attended meetings but never took a note, relying
instead on his memory to recapture with precision, even years later, complex personnel
matters and the course of University events.
"Henry had the rare capacity to absorb what you were saying without the need to
display his knowledge or insert his own view," says President Richard C. Levin.
"He advised not by sharing confidences but by asking probing questions. His
discretion and loyalty generated the great affection and trust, not just of presidents but
of countless friends and colleagues. Perhaps this is why his wife said that he could have
been a psychoanalyst or a rabbi."
Henry W. Broude was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Feb. 23, 1925, the son of Bert C. and
Anna Broude. He started at Antioch College, then left to join the Navy. A fluke — he
ducked into a mess hall to get out of the rain and found himself taking a test on which he
performed brilliantly — made him a radar technician, a happenstance that saved him
from combat and, he felt certain, had spared his life. He finished at Antioch and earned
his Ph.D. at Harvard University. He was appointed at Yale in 1954 to teach economic
history in the Department of Economics and antitrust law at the Yale Law School. His
landmark book, "Steel Decisions and the National Economy," was published in
1963.
Broude retired from his administrative duties in 1992 and returned to teaching. Although
most of his career had been in administration, he was a beloved teacher to undergraduate
and graduate students, renowned for his ability to link economics to the grand sweep of
history and to the labors of workers as well as the peccadilloes of kings. The 1996
undergraduate "Course Critique" evaluating his seminar ended with the words,
"Generous grading, interesting material, a great professor and a host of fascinating
stories. What more could anyone ask?"
Professor Broude is survived by his wife of 59 years, Josephine, who was for many years
the executive assistant to Yale's provost. The Broudes are known in antique circles and
over the years gathered a collection of inkwells, inkstands, English ceramics of the 18th
and 19th centuries, and objects of vertu.
Funeral services were private, and there will be no memorial service. Donations in
Broude's memory can be made to Connecticut Hospice (100 Double Beach Rd., Branford, CT),
Yale-New Haven Hospital (20 York St., New Haven, CT) or the Community Foundation of
Greater New Haven (70 Audubon St., New Haven, CT). |
