RICHARD W. MORIN '24
RICHARD W. MORIN '24 officially ends his 20-year career at Dartmouth on June 30. He was appointed the College's 14th Librarian in April 1950, after serving two years as Executive Officer of the College.
Mr. Morin's influence on the College will continue long beyond his retirement, however. In 1965-66 he organized and served as the executive secretary of a comprehensive planning study of future library needs under the auspices of the Trustees Planning Committee. As President Dickey then noted, "Mr. Morin has brought Dartmouth's libraries to unprecedented levels of service and strength and he has prepared for a future that will be revolutionary in its demands on our libraries."
A native of Albert Lea, Minn., Mr. Morin came to the College from a varied career in foreign service, law, and public affairs. He received his LL.B. from Harvard University in 1928, and also attended Oxford University and Bcole desSciences Politiques in Paris. He served as a U.S. vice consul in that city from 1929 to 1933, and then spent two years in Washington with the Department of State before returning to his home state for private law practice. Again in Washington in 1942, he helped the Department of State organize its Offices of Public Information and Public Affairs. He was subsequently appointed the first chief of the Division of Public Liaison and deputy director of the Office of Public Affairs, then headed by President Dickey and responsible for the State Department's cultural and information work.
At the San Francisco Conference which chartered the United Nations Mr. Morin served as deputy liaison officer to the U.S. delegation. A three-year period of law practice in Albert Lea, Minn., preceded his arrival at Dartmouth.
From his office at Baker Library, Mr. Morin also supervises the operation of Dana Biomedical Library, the libraries of Tuck and Thayer Schools and the departmental libraries of chemistry, physics, mathematics, art, and English. His contributions to Dartmouth have not been confined to libraries. Other services include his temporary appointment as special assistant to the president for the office of Provost, chairman of Dartmouth College Publications, a member of the advisory board on publication of the Webster Papers, executive secretary and member of the Faculty Steering Committee of the Great Issues Course, and chairman of the Bicentennial Publications Committee.
He has served as president of the New England Library Association and is a member also of the American and New Hampshire Library Associations and the American Bar Association. He is the editor of a Dartmouth Publications volume, The Hunters, and is writing an account of the Dartmouth College Case.
As an undergraduate, Mr. Morin devoted much time to arts and dramatics and joined Phi Gamma Delta and Sphinx. He has continued these interests, studying with Artist Paul Sample, '20, and in recent years his watercolor landscapes have been exhibited at galleries throughout New England.
With Kenneth F. Montgomery '25 (left), the donor, Librarian Richard W. Morin'24 poses beside his portrait, presented in Baker's Tower Room on April 13.
