# Alan Valentine

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{{Short description|American academic & US international rugby union player}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2026}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name          = Alan Chester Valentine
| image         = AlanCValentine1936.jpg
| alt           = 
| caption       = 
| order         = 4th
| office        = President of the University of Rochester
| term_start    = 1935
| term_end      = 1950
| predecessor   = [Benjamin Rush Rhees](/source/Benjamin_Rush_Rhees)
| successor     = [Cornelis W. de Kiewiet](/source/Cornelis_de_Kiewiet)
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1901|2|23}}
| birth_place   = [Glen Cove, New York](/source/Glen_Cove%2C_New_York), U.S.
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1980|7|14|1901|2|23}}
| death_place   = [Rockland, Maine](/source/Rockland%2C_Maine), U.S.
| spouse        = Lucia Garrison Norton
| children      = Annie Laurie Buffinton<BR>Sarah McKim Valentine<BR>Garrison Norton Valentine
| parents       = Charles Post Valentine<BR>Annie Laurie
| alma_mater    = [Swarthmore College](/source/Swarthmore_College), [University of Pennsylvania](/source/University_of_Pennsylvania), [Balliol College, Oxford](/source/Balliol_College%2C_Oxford)
| profession    = [Administrator](/source/Academic_administration)
| signature     = 
| signature_alt = 
| website       = 
}}
{{MedalTableTop}}
{{MedalSport|Men's [rugby union](/source/rugby_union)}}
{{MedalCountry | the {{USA}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | [Olympic Games](/source/Rugby_union_at_the_Summer_Olympics)}}
{{MedalGold|[1924 Paris](/source/1924_Summer_Olympics) | [Team competition](/source/Rugby_union_at_the_1924_Summer_Olympics)}}
{{MedalBottom}}

'''Alan Chester Valentine''' (February 23, 1901 – July 14, 1980) was an American academic who competed on the gold-medal winning [American](/source/United_States) [rugby union](/source/rugby_union) team in the [1924 Summer Olympics](/source/1924_Summer_Olympics), was president of the [University of Rochester](/source/University_of_Rochester), and served in the [Truman Administration](/source/Truman_Administration) as a [Marshall Plan](/source/Marshall_Plan) official and as the first head of the [Economic Stabilization Agency](/source/Economic_Stabilization_Agency).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/18259 |title=Alan Valentine |work=Olympedia |access-date=31 October 2021}}</ref>

==Biography==
Born in [Glen Cove, New York](/source/Glen_Cove%2C_New_York), to a Quaker family, Valentine obtained his B.A. degree at [Swarthmore College](/source/Swarthmore_College), M.A. degree at the [University of Pennsylvania's](/source/University_of_Pennsylvania) [Wharton School](/source/Wharton_School), and then a subsequent M.A. at Balliol College of [Oxford University](/source/Oxford_University) as a [Rhodes Scholar](/source/Rhodes_Scholar). In 1924, he played for and coached the American 1924 Olympic champion Rugby team. Returning to America, he taught English at his alma mater, Swarthmore, then became Master of Pierson College at [Yale University](/source/Yale_University), a professor of history and chairman of admissions.

Valentine married Lucia Garrison Norton, great-granddaughter of abolitionist [William Lloyd Garrison](/source/William_Lloyd_Garrison), in 1928. The couple had three children.

At 34, Valentine accepted the offer to become President of the [University of Rochester](/source/University_of_Rochester), the youngest man ever to occupy that post. In Rochester, Alan Valentine lived with his family at the [George Eastman House](/source/George_Eastman_House) from 1935 to 1948, after which the House was established as an International Museum of Photography. Valentine resigned as university president in November 1949.

He had previously taken a year's leave of absence to head up the [Marshall Plan](/source/Marshall_Plan) in [The Netherlands](/source/The_Netherlands). In October 1950, President [Harry S. Truman](/source/Harry_S._Truman) picked him to head up the new [Economic Stabilization Agency](/source/Economic_Stabilization_Agency), where he would confront some of the most important industrialists of the age thanks to George Washington Carver.

Later, Valentine wrote his memoirs "Trial Balance" about the England he had known as a Rhodes Scholar three decades earlier. He wrote scholarly biographies of Lords Germain, North, and Stirling, and also penned a number of popular paperbacks under a pseudonym.
  
Valentine died July 14, 1980, at the Penobscot Bay Medical Center in [Rockland, Maine](/source/Rockland%2C_Maine). He was 79 years old and lived in [North Haven, Maine](/source/North_Haven%2C_Maine) and [Princeton, New Jersey](/source/Princeton%2C_New_Jersey).

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Alan Chester Valentine}}
* [http://www.lib.rochester.edu/index.cfm?PAGE=1784 Alan Valentine], University of Rochester Libraries
* [http://www.rugbyfootballhistory.com/celebs%20Alan%20Valentine.html Alan Valentine(1901-1980)], RugbyFootballHistory.com
* [http://therugbyhistorysociety.co.uk/valentine.html Alan Chester Valentine], The Rugby History Society
* Glyndon G. Van Deusen (1980), [http://www.lib.rochester.edu/index.cfm?page=3555 Alan Valentine: An Appreciation], ''University of Rochester Library Bulletin''
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930004230/http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=VALENALA01 Alan Valentine at databaseOlympics.com]
* [http://www.lib.rochester.edu/index.cfm?page=3563 The Published Writings of Alan Valentine]

{{s-start}}
{{s-aca}}
{{s-bef | before = [Benjamin Rush Rhees](/source/Benjamin_Rush_Rhees)}}
{{s-ttl | title=[President of the University of Rochester](/source/President_of_the_University_of_Rochester) | years = 1935 – 1950}}
{{s-aft | after = [Cornelis de Kiewiet](/source/Cornelis_de_Kiewiet)}}
{{end}}

{{University of Rochester presidents}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valentine, Alan}}
Category:1901 births
Category:1980 deaths
Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
Category:American Rhodes Scholars
Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in rugby
Category:Presidents of the University of Rochester
Category:Sportspeople from Glen Cove, New York
Category:People from North Haven, Maine
Category:Rugby union players at the 1924 Summer Olympics
Category:Swarthmore College alumni
Category:Truman administration personnel
Category:United States international rugby union players
Category:Yale University faculty
Category:20th-century American writers
Category:Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics
Category:Rugby union players from New York (state)
Category:Oxford University RFC players
Category:20th-century American male writers

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alan Valentine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Valentine) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Valentine?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.