By Raffaela Kenny-Cincotta, News Correspondent

It was the summer of 1967. Kenneth Ryder had just assumed the office of President of Northeastern University. A month later he wed Teresa Ryan, who had come to Northeastern as an assistant in the business school. When the newlyweds returned from their honeymoon, their doorstep was occupied by a large bouquet of roses. They were sent to the couple with love, from the students of Northeastern.

Kenneth Gilmore Ryder, former president of Northeastern University, died Oct. 29, 2012 at the age of 88. Ryder was the fourth president of Northeastern, serving the university for 14 years between 1975 and 1989. He spent almost the entirety of his professional career in service to Northeastern and was well-known and well-liked by both students and faculty.

Born April 3, 1924 in Brockton, Ryder was the son of a payroll clerk. His father had to leave school in ninth grade due to financial necessity, but he always dreamed for his son to have more. He placed a great importance on the value higher education. Ryder went through school as a good student, working hard to make his father proud. According to a biographical history of his presidency titled “Coming of Age: The Ryder Years”, by Antoinette Frederick, a high school teacher recalled Ryder “almost bursting with pride” while reciting a speech at his high school graduation.

In the spring of his senior year, Ryder was awarded full tuition for his freshman year at Boston University, and full undergraduate and graduate tuition contingent on the remainder of his high school performance. In an interview before Ryder passed, Frederick recalled his response to how receiving such a life-altering scholarship molded his future world-view:

“Without that award there would have been no college. My father had lost his job, and I was working after school and summers to help out … I’d pretty much given up on the idea of college at all. It was a teacher who urged me to apply to BU and it accepted me. Still, that wouldn’t have been possible without the award. The [scholarship] shaped my view about the importance of helping people – whatever their financial background – to get a college education so they can develop their potential.”

Ryder was the first member of his family to go to college. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Boston University in 1946 and a master’s in history from Harvard University in 1947.

During the December of Ryder’s freshman year, the US entered World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. According to “Coming of Age: The Ryder Years,” a month later, the young student fulfilled his patriotic duty and joined the naval reserve. He left the service in 1946 as a lieutenant.

Speaking about his time during World War II, Ryder revealed his inner pacifist. “I’ve seldom met anyone I didn’t like and no one that I ever wanted to get mad at. The war confirmed that sense in me – that issues can be settled by discussion,” he said.

Frederick wrote that after returning home, and following a year-long stint teaching at Cambridge Junior College, Ryder accepted a position as an instructor of history and government at Northeastern University. sFive years later he was promoted to assistant professor of history. Three years after that he was promoted again to associate professor.

In “Coming of Age: The Ryder Years,” Raymond Robinson, a colleague of Ryder and later chair of the university’s history department, remembered Ryder’s enthusiasm and recalled him “bursting into the office in the morning, consumed with the idea of how to present something. He was wonderfully enthusiastic about his courses … He made me a better teacher.”

It was Ryder’s dedication to the students of Northeastern that motivated him to be an active voice in the administrative side of the university. According to Frederick’s “Coming of Age” biography, Ryder often spent time after class counseling students on both academic and personal matters. Ryder was offered the position of faculty advisor to a freshman class and then quickly moved up to secretary of the faculty. He remained true to his passion for education, still teaching two history courses.

Ryder attempted to fill the roles of professor and administrator for as long as he could but in 1957, to the disappointment of many students, he reluctantly stopped teaching to focus on his administrative duties full-time. In the next 15 years Ryder was promoted time and time again, first to dean of administration, then vice president of university administration, and then in 1971 to executive vice president.

When then-President Asa S. Knowles retired in 1975, Ryder was named his successor. On the afternoon of July 1, 1975, the announcement of Ryder’s new position was revealed to a crowd of 800 students, faculty and staff who gave a standing ovation. Ryder took the podium with a great smile and said “I sort of hoped this day might come.” The crowd cheered again as he said, “We look forward to establishing a climate of harmony and unity and something akin to the family feeling I felt when I first came here in 1949.”

Under Ryder’s leadership, Northeastern went through a time of rapid growth and development. Former President Richard M. Freeland, active from 1996-2006, recalled Ryder’s legacy:

“He was widely liked and respected in the campus community. He was associated with the idea of being more collaborative with the faculty than [any president] had been at Northeastern.”

Freeland added, “I think he created a stronger sense of campus community in that respect. He was very focused on broadening and deepening the curriculum to create a better balance between the liberal arts and professional subjects which I think is his most important contribution.”

During Ryder’s presidency, Frederick wrote, academic programs in the areas of arts and humanities were expanded and enriched. Plans were finalized for the Snell Library, and great strides were taken in effort to beautify the Northeastern campus. With the addition of well-needed landscaping, the university’s campus was transformed from stark and grey to the tree-lined grounds students recognize today. The university’s College of Computer Science was also founded, and Northeastern acquired the Graduate School of Nursing from Boston University as well.

In 1989, Ryder stepped down as president, but he served on the Board of Trustees from 1989-1996, at which time he was elected trustee emeritus.

He is survived by his children Anne Ryder Wilson, Jeanne Ryder, Bruce Ryder, Amy Ryder Pickel and Julie Ryder Lammers, and several grandchildren.