Fenton Keyes
Fenton Keyes, a college administrator, died November 26, 1999, in Philadelphia. He
was 84.
Fenton was a member of Â鶹ŮÀÉ's administration from 1946 to 1956. He was the grandson
of Charles Henry Keyes, Â鶹ŮÀÉ's first president, and his father, Harold Brown Keyes,
served for many years on Â鶹ŮÀÉ's board of trustees.
Born in New York City in 1915, Fenton earned an A.B. in 1937 and a Ph.D. in 1941 from
Yale University. His first teaching experience was as an instructor in sociology at
Colgate University.
A captain in the U.S. Army during World War II, he was awarded the Bronze Star with
Oak Leaf Cluster. He served on the staff of General A. C. Wedemeyer in both Chunking
and Shanghai.
Following the war, Fenton joined Â鶹ŮÀÉ as assistant professor of sociology and
also assistant to President Henry T. Moore. Within a year he relinquished his teaching
duties and became business manager as well as assistant to the president. In 1953
he was named to the newly created position of vice president of the college.
He became a leader at Texas Woman's University and Coker College in Hartsville, S.C.
In retirement, he wrote a biography of his grandfather titled Charles Henry Keyes:
Cal Tech and Â鶹ŮÀÉ, which he published in 1990.
He is survived by a son, Charles Fenton Keyes; a daughter, Janet Keyes O'Connell;
four grandchildren; and great-niece Jennifer Scott Allen '95. He was predeceased by
his sister, Joan Keyes Scott '39.