Goheen, Robert F. (Robert Francis), 1919-2008

Robert F. Goheen was the president of Princeton University from July 1957 until March 1971.

Robert Francis (Bob) Goheen was born in India in August 1919, where his father was a Presbyterian medical missionary. He lived in India until he was fifteen, when he enrolled in the Lawrenceville School, graduating two years later. He entered Princeton University as a member of the class of 1940, and graduated with Highest Honors in the Humanities Program. After one year of graduate study with the Department of Classics, Goheen joined the Army in November 1941, five months after he married. He continued his graduate studies after the War, and was awarded an M.A. in 1947 and a Ph.D. in 1948. Following his doctorate, he was immediately appointed as an Instructor in the Department of Classics, and was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1950. After retirement as President he became president of the Council on Foundations in 1972. In 1977 Goheen returned to his country of birth as the United States Ambassador to India, a post in which he remained until 1980. He became a senior fellow of Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School after his return.