Harry M. Clor, a member of Kenyon's political‑science faculty from 1965 until his retirement in 1999, was one of the College’s legendary teachers. In honor of his distinguished career, the Harry M. Clor Professorship in Political Science was established, funded in large part by his grateful and admiring former students with more than $1 million in contributions.
At the celebration dinner, former President Oden remarked, While Harry is many things--teacher and scholar, author and editor, advisor to colleagues and to national organizations--he is above all the personification of what a faculty member at this College can be. It is for that reason that we take such distinctive pride in announcing this chair in his honor.
A graduate of Lawrence University, Clor earned his doctorate at the University of Chicago. Known for his expertise in political philosophy and on censorship and free‑speech issues, he testified before congressional subcommittees and presidential commissions on pornography. Among the College's alumni and students, as well as among his faculty colleagues, he was equally known for his expertise in the classroom, for which he won the Trustee Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1990. The citation for that award noted his "distinction in guiding generations of Kenyon students to a richer understanding of the central texts of political philosophy."