Cleaveland, Frederic N.

Frederic N. Cleaveland (1915-2005) served as Assistant Dean of Men at Duke University from 1937-1941 and as Provost and professor of political science from 1971-1979. In the interim, he was a professor of political science and researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was educated at Duke (AB and MA in history) and Princeton (MA and PhD in politics).

Frederick Neil Cleaveland was born October 30, 1915 in Phoenix, Arizona. Cleaveland received a B.A. and M.A. in history from Duke University in 1937 and 1942 respectively, and a M.A. and Ph.D. in politics from Princeton in 1950 and 1951.

He became an assistant professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and served as chairman of the department from 1958 to 1970. He came to Duke as provost and professor of political science in 1971 and served as provost until 1978.

Cleaveland served as chairman and was on the board of trustees for the National Academy of Public Administration in the 1970s. Also in the mid-1970s he was a senior member of the Brookings Institution. His interest in public affairs continued into his retirement years, and in 1994 he helped to form "Plato's Loft," a bi-weekly discussion forum in Chapel Hill, NC modeled on Princeton seminars. Cleaveland passed away December 21, 2005 at the age of 90. Materials ange in date from 1938-1983.