# Charles W. Cole

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American diplomat and academic

For other people named Charles Cole, see [Charles Cole (disambiguation)](/source/Charles_Cole_(disambiguation)).

Charles W. Cole United States Ambassador to Chile In office October 21, 1961 – September 27, 1964 Preceded by Robert F. Woodward Succeeded by Ralph A. Dungan 12th President of Amherst College In office 1946–1960 Preceded by Stanley King Succeeded by Calvin Plimpton Personal details Born Charles Woolsey Cole (1906-02-08)February 8, 1906 Montclair, New Jersey, US Died February 20, 1978(1978-02-20) (aged 72) at sea Alma mater Amherst College, B.A. 1927 Columbia University, M.A. 1928 and Ph.D.1931 Nickname Charlie

**Charles Woolsey Cole** (February 8, 1906 – February 20, 1978) was an American diplomat and academic. He was the [United States Ambassador to Chile](/source/United_States_Ambassador_to_Chile) and the president of [Amherst College](/source/Amherst_College).

## Early life

"Charlie"[1] Cole was born February 8, 1906 in [Montclair, New Jersey](/source/Montclair%2C_New_Jersey).[2] He graduated from [Montclair High School](/source/Montclair_High_School_(New_Jersey)).[3]

He attended [Amherst College](/source/Amherst_College), graduating [summa cum laude](/source/Summa_cum_laude) and [Phi Beta Kappa](/source/Phi_Beta_Kappa) in 1927.[4][1] While there, he was a brother of the [Delta Kappa Epsilon](/source/Delta_Kappa_Epsilon) fraternity and [Delta Sigma Rho](/source/Delta_Sigma_Rho)[2]

Cole received an M.A. from [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University) in 1928.[3][5] He received a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1931.[6][5] His scholarly interest were the [17th‐century France](/source/17th_century_France) and [mercantilism](/source/Mercantilism), especially [foreign trade](/source/Foreign_trade) under [Louis XIV](/source/Louis_XIV).[6]

## Career

Cole taught at Columbia University from 1928 to 1934.[7] He was a [Social Science Research Council](/source/Social_Science_Research_Council) fellow for year.[7] He published *French Mercantilist Doctrines Before Colbert* in 1931.*[8]*

Cole became professor of economics at Amherst College in 1935.[3][5] He published *Colbert and a Century of French Mercantilism* in 1939*.[6][8]* He became a history professor at [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University) in 1940 to 1945.[1][5] He also taught military government for the [United States Navy](/source/United_States_Navy).[1] During [World War II](/source/World_War_II), Cole worked for the [Office of Price Administration](/source/Office_of_Price_Administration) in Washington, D.C. for one year and was a regional price executive in New York City for two years.[7]

Cole was the twelfth president of Amherst College from 1946 to 1960.[4][1] He grew the college's endowment from $16 million to $42 million.[6] He implemented a program requiring freshmen and sophomores to follow a "core curriculum" of English, European civilization, foreign language, and science, rather than electives.[6] This curriculum was in use at Amherst from 1948 to 1966.[6]

Cole retired from Amherst in 1960.[3] In 1961, [President John F. Kennedy](/source/John_F._Kennedy) appointed Cole to be [United States Ambassador to Chile](/source/United_States_Ambassador_to_Chile).[2][3] He served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (Chile) from October 21, 1961 to September 27, 1964.[9]

Cole was elected to the [American Academy of Arts and Sciences](/source/American_Academy_of_Arts_and_Sciences) in 1948.[10] He was a member of the [American Association of University Professors](/source/American_Association_of_University_Professors), the [American Historical Association](/source/American_Historical_Association), the [American Economic Association](/source/American_Economic_Association), and the [Council on Foreign Relations](/source/Council_on_Foreign_Relations).[2] He served on the boards of the [Committee on the National Security Organization](/source/Committee_on_the_National_Security_Organization), [Educational Testing Service](/source/Educational_Testing_Service), the [Merrill Foundation for the Advancement of Financial Knowledge](/source/Charles_E._Merrill), and the [Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association](/source/Teachers_Insurance_and_Annuity_Association).[4]

## Personal life

Cole married Katharine Bush Salmon, a writer who attended [Smith College](/source/Smith_College).[1] They had two daughters, Katharine and Elizabeth.[6] Katherine died in 1972.[7] He married Marie Greer Donahue in 1974.[6][3]

He was vice president of the [Rockefeller Foundation](/source/Rockefeller_Foundation) and served on the board of the [American Cancer Society](/source/American_Cancer_Society), and Wilton Academy.[6][4][3]

Cole died from a heart attack on February 20, 1978, while on a cruise ship off Los Angeles, California.[8][6] He was buried in [Wildwood Cemetery](/source/Wildwood_Cemetery_(Amherst%2C_Massachusetts)) in [Amherst, Massachusetts](/source/Amherst%2C_Massachusetts).[6]

## Selected publications

### Books

- Cole, Charles Woolsey [. *French Mercantalist Doctrines Before Colbert*](https://ia601509.us.archive.org/25/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.189441/2015.189441.French-Merchantilist-Doctrines-Before-Colbert.pdf)*.* New York: Richard R. Smith, Inc., 1931

- Cole, Charles Woolsey. *[Colbert And A Century of French Mercantilism](https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.1307)*. New York: Columbia University Press, 1939.

- Clough, Shepard Bancroft and Cole, Charles Woolsey. *[Economic History of Europe](https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015001806549)*. Boston: D.C. Heath and Company, 1941.

- Cole, Charles Woolsey. [*French Mercantalism 1683-1700*](https://archive.org/details/frenchmercantili0000cole_d2n9/page/n5/mode/2up). New York: Columbia University Press, 1943.

- Hayes, Carlton J. H. and Baldwin, Marshall Whithed and Cole, Charles Woolsey. *[History of Europe](https://archive.org/details/historyofeurope0000unse/page/n7/mode/2up)*. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1949.

### Journals

- Cole, Charles Woolsey. “[The Relativity of History](https://doi.org/10.2307/2143343).” *Political Science Quarterly,* vol. 48, no. 2 (1933): 161–71. doi.org/10.2307/2143343.

## See also

- [John William Ward](/source/John_William_Ward_(professor))

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:4_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:4_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:4_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:4_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-:4_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-:4_1-5) ["Education: Cole to Amherst"](https://time.com/archive/6773039/education-cole-to-amherst/). *[Time (magazine)](/source/Time_(magazine))*. February 4, 1946. Retrieved March 19, 2026.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:1_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:1_2-3) ["Delta Kappa Epsilon Politicians in New Jersey"](https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/NJ/delta-kappa-epsilon.html). *The Political Graveyard*. Retrieved March 19, 2026.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:6_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:6_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:6_3-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:6_3-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-:6_3-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-:6_3-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-:6_3-6) ["Charles Cole, Former President of Amherst"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-republican-charles-cole-former-pres/193738269/). *Springfield Daily News*. February 8, 1978. p. 20. Retrieved March 19, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:2_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:2_4-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:2_4-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:2_4-3) ["Charles W. Cole (AC 1927) Papers Finding Aid"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110926220027/http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/monarch/findaids/amherst/ma163_scope.html). *Amherst College Archives & Special Collections*. Archived from [the original](http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/monarch/findaids/amherst/ma163_scope.html) on September 26, 2011. Retrieved March 19, 2026.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:8_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:8_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:8_5-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:8_5-3) ["Presidential Gallery | Archives Exhibitions"](https://www.amherst.edu/library/archives/exhibitions/presidents). *Amherst College*. Retrieved March 19, 2026.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:5_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:5_6-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:5_6-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:5_6-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-:5_6-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-:5_6-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-:5_6-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-:5_6-7) [***i***](#cite_ref-:5_6-8) [***j***](#cite_ref-:5_6-9) [***k***](#cite_ref-:5_6-10) ["Charles W. Cole Dies; Once Amherst Head"](https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1978/02/08/110921750.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0) (PDF). *The New York Times*. February 8, 1978. p. B2. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0362-4331](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved March 19, 2026.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:7_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:7_7-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:7_7-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:7_7-3) ["Charles Woolsey Cole"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-recorder-charles-woolsey-cole/193739661/). *Greenfield Recorder*. February 8, 1978. p. 14. Retrieved March 19, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_8-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_8-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:0_8-2) [New General Catalog of Old Books and Authors](http://www.authorandbookinfo.com/ngcoba/co2.htm)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Charles Woolsey Cole - People - Department History - Office of the Historian"](https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/cole-charles-woolsey). *United States Department of State*. Retrieved March 19, 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:3_10-0)** ["Charles Woolsey Cole"](https://www.amacad.org/person/charles-woolsey-cole). *American Academy of Arts and Sciences*. April 10, 2025. Retrieved March 19, 2026.

## External links

- [Charles W. Cole Oral History Interview–4/26/1969](https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/jfkoh-cwc-01) (John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum)

- [Charles W. Cole (AC 1927) Papers](https://archivesspace.amherst.edu/repositories/2/resources/164) (Amherst College Archives & Special Collections)

Diplomatic posts Preceded by Robert F. Woodward United States Ambassador to Chile October 21, 1961 – September 27, 1964 Succeeded by Ralph A. Dungan Academic offices Preceded by Stanley King President of Amherst College 1946–1960 Succeeded by Calvin Plimpton

v t e United States ambassadors to Chile Minister Plenipotentiary Allen Chargé d'Affaires Larned Hamm Pollard Pendleton Crump Barton Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary Peyton Starkweather Bigler Nelson Kilpatrick Root Logan Osborn Kilpatrick Logan Roberts Egan Porter Strobel Wilson Hicks Dawson Fletcher Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Fletcher Shea Collier Culbertson Sevier Philip Armour Bowers Beaulac Lyon Howe Woodward Cole Dungan Korry Davis Popper Landau Theberge Barnes Gillespie Kamman Guerra-Mondragón O'Leary Brownfield Kelly Simons Wolff Hammer Perez Meehan Judd

v t e Presidents of Amherst College Moore (1821–1823) Humphrey (1823–1845) Hitchcock (1845–1854) Stearns (1854–1876) Seelye (1876–1890) Gates (1890–1899) Harris (1899–1912) Meiklejohn (1912–1924) Olds (1924–1927) Pease (1927–1932) King (1932–1946) Cole (1946–1960) Plimpton (1960–1971) Ward (1971–1979) Gibbs (1979–1983) G. Armour Craig (1983–1984) (acting) Pouncey (1984–1994) Gerety (1994–2003) Marx (2003–2011) Martin (2011–2022) Elliott (2022–)

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