Eric Widmer

1940 - 2025

Eric Widmer

Simsbury, CT - Dr. Eric G. Widmer (January 16, 1940 - January 18, 2025)

Renowned leader in global education, historian and beloved citizen of the world, Dr. Eric Widmer died at his home in Simsbury, CT on The Ethel Walker School campus, where his wife Dr. Meera Viswanathan serves as head of school, after a year-long battle with cancer, surrounded by family. He was celebrated for his scholarship, visionary leadership, and his enduring humanity.

He grew up in Storrs, CT, where his mother founded the School of Nursing at the University of Connecticut, and became its first Dean. In 1953, Eric's education blossomed, first at Deerfield Academy as an outstanding student and athlete; at Williams College, as a star running back and lacrosse player as well as president of his class and the student council; and finally, Harvard University, where he received a Ph.D. in History and Far Eastern Languages under famed sinologist John King Fairbank. He subsequently joined the faculty at Brown University where he taught Chinese and Inner Asian History with Harvard publishing his monograph, The Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Peking During the 18th Century, a work still read today by historians around the world and in diplomatic circles. At Brown, he served in a number of academic and administrative capacities over twenty-five years, including many years as a legendary Dean of Student Life and then Dean of Admission and Financial Aid.

Following his time at Brown as professor and dean, it was his great honor to serve as 54th Headmaster at his alma mater Deerfield Academy from 1994-2006, the first alumnus to do so. While for many, that would have been the peak of a career, he then was asked by His Majesty King Abdullah II to become the founding head of school at King's Academy, which today is an internationally prominent boarding and day school in Madaba, Jordan. In addition, he served as a trustee on numerous boards around the world, including: Robert College in Istanbul, Turkey (which his great-grandfather Cyrus Hamlin founded in 1863); The American Community School in Beirut, Lebanon; ASSIST; Global Connections; and the Kingston Congregational Church in Kingston, Rhode Island.

His passions ranged broadly from education to athletics, languages, joke-telling, classical music, and writing in diverse genres ranging from history to memoir to penning school songs and limericks, all of these laced with his customary quiet wit and sense of irony. These include The Founding of King's Academy: A Jordanian Memoir and Nursing a Life: A Remembrance of Carolyn Ladd Widmer, 1902-1991. His perennial admonitions to students were ones he heard at Deerfield from Headmaster Frank Boyden, who always reminded the students to "be worthy of your heritage" and to "finish up strong." And so Eric was, and so he did.

He is survived by his wife Meera; his former wife, Dr. Ellen Widmer; his brother Michael and his wife Jeanne; his beloved sons, Ted, and Matt and his partner Lisa Miller; as well as his grandchild Freddy and their husband Stephen Eesley.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Eric's name to The Olive Branch Fund to support scholarships to King's Academy for Palestinian students from Gaza: https://www.kingsacademy.edu.jo/giving/the-olive-branch-education-fund-for-gaza/donate-olive-branch-fund-check-wire-transfer

A funeral service will be held on March 1, 2025 at 1 pm at Kingston Congregational Church in Kingston, RI as well as celebrations of his life to be held at The Ethel Walker School in April, King's Academy in May, and Deerfield Academy in June for each of those communities to be able to honor his memory and many accomplishments. Please visit Eric's Book of Memories at www.vincentfuneralhome.com for online tributes.