{{short description|British-American writer}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Peter R. Pouncey | image = | caption = | order = 16th | title = President of Amherst College | term_start = 1984 | term_end = 1994 | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_date = {{Birth date|1937|10|1}} | birth_place = Qingdao, China | death_date = {{Death date and age|2023|5|30|1937|10|1}} | death_place = Canaan, Connecticut, U.S. | predecessor = Julian Gibbs | successor = Tom Gerety | other_names = | hometown = | alma_mater = | spouse = | children = 3 | occupation = | years_active = | known_for = | office2 = Dean of Columbia College | term_start2 = 1972 | term_end2 = 1976 | predecessor2 = Carl Hovde | successor2 = Robert L. Belknap (acting) | education = University of Oxford (BA)<br>Columbia University (PhD) }}

'''Peter R. Pouncey''' (October 1, 1937 – May 30, 2023) was a British-American author, classicist, and president of Amherst College. He was known for his wit, his erudition, and his sophisticated works of both academic analysis and fiction.

==Biography== The son of a British father and a French-British mother, he was born in Qingdao, China.<ref>{{Cite news | last = Salamon | first = Julie | title = For a Writer and His Subject, Time Flies | newspaper = The New York Times | date = 17 May 2005 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/17/arts/17poun.html# | accessdate = 29 January 2011}}</ref> At the end of World War II, after several dislocations and separations, his family reassembled in England. Pouncey was educated there in boarding schools and at Oxford. For a time, he studied for the Jesuit priesthood but ultimately experienced a loss of faith.<ref>{{citation |title = Leaders in the crucible: the moral voice of college presidents |last = Nelson |first = Stephen James |publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group |year = 2000 |isbn = 978-0-89789-742-6 }}, pages 29–30.</ref>

Shortly after obtaining a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1969,<ref>{{cite web |title = Society of Senior Scholars : Columbia University : The Scholars : Peter Pouncey |url = http://seniorscholars.columbia.edu/scholars/peter_pouncey/ |publisher = Society of Senior Scholars, Columbia University |accessdate = 28 January 2011 }}</ref> he was appointed assistant professor of Greek and Latin in the Classics Department. In 1972, he became Dean of Columbia College. As Dean, he was a forceful advocate of coeducation, going so far as to hold a faculty vote without the knowledge of the university's president, William McGill. McGill rejected the proposal, due to concerns about the future of Barnard College. In September 1972, Pouncey officially recognized a student lounge for gay students, thought to be a first in higher education.<ref>{{cite news |title=Homosexuals Allowed Own College Lounge |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/09/19/archives/homosexuals-allowed-own-columbia-lounge.html |access-date=5 June 2023 |publisher=New York Times}}</ref> In 1976, Pouncey resigned as Dean.<ref>{{citation |title = Stand, Columbia : a history of Columbia University in the city of New York, 1754-2004 |last = McCaughey |first = Robert A. |publisher = Columbia University Press |year = 2003 |isbn = 978-0-231-13008-0 }}, pages 527–528.</ref> As a professor in Columbia's Classics Department, he produced a number of notable works of scholarship, including the book ''The Necessities of War: A Study of Thucydides' Pessimism,'' which won the university's Lionel Trilling Award.

In 1984, he became President of Amherst College. Upon his retirement in 1994, he returned to Columbia. His novel ''Rules for Old Men Waiting'' won the McKitterick Prize and was nominated for the Commonwealth Writers Prize in 2006.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Peter R. Pouncey, Ninth Dean of the College, Was Instrumental in Its Move to Coeducation |url=https://www.college.columbia.edu/news/peter-r-pouncey-ninth-dean-college-was-instrumental-its-move-coeducation |access-date=2025-06-20 |website=Columbia College |language=en}}</ref>

For many years, Pouncey divided his time between New York City and northern Connecticut.

==Personal life and death== Pouncey had two biological children and one step-child. He was married and divorced three times. His second wife, Susan Rieger, author of ''The Divorce Papers'' and ''The Heirs'', is a former admissions officer at Columbia University.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1973-03-23 |title=Susan Rieger Married (Published 1973) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/03/23/archives/susan-rieger-married.html |access-date=2025-10-15 |language=en}}</ref> Their daughter, Maggie Pouncey,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Amherst Mourns Peter Pouncey, President from 1984 to 1994 {{!}} June {{!}} Amherst College |url=https://www.amherst.edu/news/news_releases/2023/june/amherst-mourns-peter-pouncey-president-from-1984-to-1994 |access-date=2025-10-15 |website=www.amherst.edu}}</ref> is the author of the novel ''Perfect Reader.'' His third wife, Katherine Dalsimer, is a Clinical Professor of Psychology at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and an author.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2005-05-17 |title=For a Writer and His Subject, Time Flies (Published 2005) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/17/arts/for-a-writer-and-his-subject-time-flies.html |access-date=2025-10-15 |language=en}}</ref>

Peter Pouncey died in Canaan, Connecticut on May 30, 2023, at the age of 85.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Peter Pouncey Obituary (1937 – 2023) – Legacy Remembers |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/peter-pouncey-obituary?id=52234084 |access-date=2023-06-14 |website=Legacy.com}}</ref>

==Works== *''The Necessities of War: A Study of Thucydides' Pessimism'', Columbia University Press, (1980) {{ISBN|978-0-231-04994-8}} *''Rules for Old Men Waiting'' (2005) {{ISBN|0-8129-7396-8}}

==Further reading== Ward, John William. 1969 ''Red, White, and Blue: Men, Books, and Ideas in American Culture'' . New York: Oxford University Press

==Notes== {{reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-aca}} {{succession box | title = Dean of Columbia College | before = Carl Hovde | after = Robert L. Belknap (acting) | years = 1972 &ndash; 1976 }} {{succession box | before = Julian Gibbs | title = President of Amherst College | years = 1984&ndash;1994 | after = Tom Gerety }} {{s-end}}

{{Amherst College presidents}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pouncey, Peter}} Category:1937 births Category:2023 deaths Category:Columbia University faculty Category:British writers Category:Presidents of Amherst College Category:Columbia University alumni Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford