Jean Ferguson Platt | In Memoriam

HMC Mourns Passing of Founding First Lady

Jean Ferguson Platt, founding first lady of Harvey Mudd College, passed away on Feb. 18 in Claremont, Calif. She was 91.

Jean Platt, wife of Founding President and physics Professor Joseph Beaven Platt, was deeply involved in the founding of HMC, helping to establish the College in the 1950s and supporting its mission in the decades that followed. After leaving HMC in 1976, Joe and Jean Platt devoted five years to Claremont Graduate University as president and first lady.

Jean Platt was preceded in death by Joe, who died July 10, 2012. They are survived by two daughters, Ann Platt Walker of La Jolla, Calif., and Elizabeth Platt Garrow of Willowbrook, Ill.; their husbands, Richard Walker and Thomas Garrow; grandchildren Stephen Cavell Walker, Jay Bradbury Walker, Jennifer Elizabeth Garrow and Erin Alexander Garrow; and five great-grandchildren.

“Jean’s love of HMC was an integral part of the College’s early years, especially in the development of our students and alumni,” said HMC President Maria Klawe. “During her 20 years as HMC’s first lady, she opened her home to host first-year dinners, arranged faculty teas and stood by Joe’s side through the building of the College. In addition to her contributions to HMC, Jean was an energetic and faithful community volunteer. I am so thankful to Jean for all that she has done for Harvey Mudd College and the community at large.”

Early Years

Jean Platt was educated at Miami University in Ohio and completed a major in mathematics and minor in English in 1943. After graduation, she worked for several years as a technician for Polaroid, where during the war, she was involved in making and testing heat-detecting bolometers. Later she worked with Edwin Land on experiments related to the development of the Polaroid camera. In 1946, she married Joe, who was then on the faculty of the University of Rochester. Once settled in Rochester, she took up ceramics, delivered library books to the home-bound, raised funds for the Philharmonic, joined Campus Women and helped plan international physics conferences.

Founding of HMC and the Claremont Years

Arriving in Claremont in 1956, Jean Platt became involved in starting Harvey Mudd College, together with Joe, who became the founding president. She assumed a variety of roles, including host of campus functions and admission officer. The Platts often shared that members of HMC’s first class were selected from vitae and application forms spread out on their living room floor.

In 1976, Joe Platt accepted the presidency of the Claremont University Center and Graduate School (now Claremont Graduate University). Joe and Jean Platt served CGU as president and first lady from 1976 to 1981.

Jean Platt was also active in the Claremont community. She was an officer of Campus Women, one of the founding members of Foothill Philharmonic and a member of the ARCS Foundation. In addition, she was active in the United Church of Christ, Congregational, the Red Cross and the Girl Scouts, and was deeply involved in Pilgrim Place and Mt. San Antonio Gardens, two of Claremont’s retirement communities. She also served on the board of Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. Hobbies included flower arranging and gardening, and she was a silversmith par excellence.

A True Team

Joe Platt often shared how his deep respect for his wife’s intellect, her work in mathematics and her research background inspired him to champion the recruitment and matriculation of women at HMC.

“It is impossible to quantify how much her steadfast dedication to Harvey Mudd played a role in the amazing trajectory of the institution,” said Jean Strauss, wife of former HMC President Jon Strauss. “Obviously, many key people helped the College plant strong roots. Joe Platt stands above them all, as the thoughtful and joyful leader who set the whole Mobius strip in motion, with a guitar in one hand and a heavy dose of wisdom and imagination in the other. But he could never have done it without Jean. She was not only his chief confidante and wise counsel, she was his best friend. Together, they mutually chose to nurture the College and its people for the rest of their lives.”

Memories of Jean

Marty White ’74

She mentored me

Jean was a mentor for the early HMC women. She made sure we knew we had someone we could talk to. I will always be grateful for Jean and Joe’s support while I was there and every time I saw them after I graduated. I will miss them both.

Jonathan Mersel ’75

Alumnus

Jean and Joe Platt were an inseparable pair of a great team. Each supported the other in creating the wondrous place that Harvey Mudd College became. Jean was a tremendous person in her own right – sharp, gracious, attentive, and fun loving. I have written of Joe previously. Together they embodied the fullness of that nonlinear life showing that indeed the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Each are sorely missed individually. Their joint passing sadly marks the end of an era.

Cliff Miller

Trustee

Sad news. Huge contributor to HMC’s founding and success. Always there with a smile and solution to the challenge at hand. Great lady and true Mudder .

Carolyn Dondero

Extended family

Jean created a world of flowers, books, beauty, fine food, genteelness, nature, family, and fun. She shared her vision of HMC as a vehicle to change the world. Jean is in our hearts forever.

Bob Klitgaard

Friend

Jean always had the buoyancy of a person who loved life and whom life loved back. She was a blessing to Joe, their family, and all who knew her.

Jack Cuzick ’70

HMC Student and distingushed alumni

Always remember her presence at events and around the college as a caring person interested in student needs. This was further apparent in my visits to HMC in more recent years when Joe was not well, and she was most gracious in talking to alumni.

Joni Moody

Friend

I recall one very hot graduation ceremony that inspired most of the audience to scramble for shade. Jean was sitting in the front row, and surely was as eager to escape the heat as the rest of us. There she stayed, however, until the ceremony was complete. The plastic bottle of water placed under her chair remained untouched. She was a smart and professional woman, with unimpeachable values, who taught by example. I am so fortunate to have been among her students.

Kat Winner ’00

I cherish many special places from my Mudd years, but my all time favorite was the botanical gardens. Thank you Jean for pushing through a project that so many students (especially us biology majors) have & will continue to benefit from.

While the news of her passing is, of course, sad… I am also inspired to celebrate the AMAZING heart and soul of a woman who dedicated so many years to creating a campus environment that was INCLUSIVE to all.

Thoughts & Prayers to all her family.
-Kat winner (west dorm)

Jean Strauss

Former HMC first lady

When I heard the news about Jean, my first thoughts were of Joe. Six months ago, it was the other way around. I have never been able to separate my thoughts about them. When I think of Jean, I think of Joe, and vice-a-versa. They were that kind of couple. I was not surprised that they left this earth in the same year. It seems impossible that they are both gone, because they were both so engaged, so ‘here’, so ever present.

Jean was my role model, my mentor, my friend. I have missed her enormously in the years since we left HMC. She not only set the bar high for all first spouses of Mudd – she set it high for any presidential spouse anywhere. I can’t think of another first lady that accomplished as much as Jean. She helped build a campus from a pile of Claremont potatoes, and then stayed around to help it thrive. She hosted countless events, attended anything where she could be of help. During the nearly ten years Jon and I were at Mudd, Jean attended almost every Saddlerock, every ARCS, every Commencement. She didn’t do this to get a free meal. She did this because she knew it mattered. She knew it made a difference. One of the last events where I spent some time with Jean was the 50th anniversary of HMC in 2006. It was not lost on me then (or now) that she was also on hand when the college opened its doors for the first time.

It is impossible to quantify how much her steadfast dedication to Harvey Mudd played a role in the amazing trajectory of the institution. Obviously, many key people helped the college plant strong roots back in the late fifties, early sixties, from faculty and staff who dedicated their lives to the mission, to the students who chose Mudd’s unique program, and who would define what a Mudder could be.

Joe Platt stands above them all, as the thoughtful and joyful leader who set the whole Mobius strip in motion, with a guitar in one hand, and a heavy dose of wisdom and imagination in the other. But he could never have done it without Jean. She was not only his chief confidante and wise counsel, she was his best friend. Together, they mutually chose to nurture the college and its people for the rest of their lives.

Jean was so many things, to so many people. In addition to being the wife of a college president, she was a mathematician, a researcher, a gardener, a silversmith, a trustee, a mother, a grandmother. Ann and Beth and their incredible families are a testament to a great gene pool, and parents who had a zest for fun and hard work.

Jean could be intimidating, because she set such a high standard for herself and others. She was also incredibly kind and thoughtful. She was a pioneer who never sought the limelight, but deserved so many accolades. If I mourn today, it is because those of us who had the privilege of knowing Jean and Joe, know what those who follow will be missing. A new generation of Mudders will never know what scientific rock stars Harvey Mudd College’s founders were. Those of us who are old enough, and lucky enough, know what’s been lost, as we cherish the memories of these two remarkable human beings.

Many people make up the wonderful Mudd constellation – but no stars will ever shine brighter than those of Joe and Jean. Godspeed. What a wonderful life. What treasures!

Liz Baughman

HMC staff

Jean was always right at Joe Platt’s side during and after his tenure as President at HMC. They were an unbeatable team and the foundation that cemented and grew the College to all it is today and will be in the future. Jean made sure the students were well taken care of during their time with the College – a substitute mother – so to speak. She cared for the students, while at the same time ensuring they stood on their own and left HMC well prepared for their future.