J.D. Nyhart ’53

He came to Princeton from Indianapolis, following his late brother, Eldon ’47, and roomed with Pete Obbard and Bayard Henry. He was a varsity swimmer and campus leader, receiving The Daily Princetonian award. He graduated with honors from the Woodrow Wilson School and was elected the first graduate president of our class.  

While serving in the Navy, he married Nina Gibbon, sister of our classmate Sam. After Harvard Law School, Dan studied development banking in Uganda and Nigeria.  

For 41 years, Dan taught at MIT as a professor in the Sloan School of Management and the Department of Ocean Engineering, working in the fields of law and technology, the law of the sea, and negotiation.  

Dan was MIT’s dean of student affairs during the turbulent years of 1969 to 1972. At times, he took a sleeping bag to work because, in the words of his son, Andrew, “He didn’t know if he’d be able to come home.” His effectiveness is encapsulated by an MIT student’s remark: “You had the sense that he was on your side.”  

Always and in many ways, so did we. The class sends heartfelt sympathy to Nina, Nick, Lynn ’79, Andrew, and seven grandchildren.