Kurt R. Schmeller *62

Kurt died Jan. 15, 2022, in Glen Cove, N.Y. 

Kurt was born June 28, 1937, in Johnson City, N.Y. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Bates College in 1959 and a Ph.D. in history from Princeton in 1962. 

Kurt was president of Queensborough Community College (QCC) for 32 years. His accomplishments during his tenure included the founding of the QCC Art Gallery, the QCC Holocaust Center, and the QCC Port of Entry program (first of its kind in the U.S.), designed to enhance the cultural orientation for Chinese scholars who wished to continue their undergraduate and graduate studies in the United States. To honor Kurt’s contributions and accomplishments, QCC named the main campus library the Kurt R. Schmeller Library.

As a historian Kurt revised the text of the fifth edition of Hall and Davis’ The Course of Europe Since Waterloo, a political history of the great European powers since 1815.

He was active in community affairs and served as a member and chairman of the City of Glen Cove school board. 

Kurt is survived by his wife, Beata; children Rudolph ’87, Sylvie, and Jesse; and grandchildren Nicholas ’21, Claire ’23, Elijah, and Ruth.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.