J. ALDEN NICHOLS ’41

J. ALDEN NICHOLS, 95, a retired professor of European history at the University of Illinois who had taught at Wesleyan, died June 28, 2014. A member of the John Wesley Club, he received his degree with high honors and with high distinction in history. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. During World War II he served as a conscientious objector. After receiving his master’s and PhD degrees from Columbia University, he taught at Wesleyan and at Skidmore College before returning to Wesleyan where he taught and was the managing editor of Daedalus, the journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, which was then published by Wesleyan. In 1961 he joined the faculty of the University of Illinois. An authority on German history, he also created a new course at the University of Illinois that incorporated the music, art and literature of the Romantic period. An avid amateur musician, he was an active participant in local groups. His wife, Barbara Tuttle Nichols, and one son predeceased him. He is survived by a daughter-in-law with whom he lived, two daughters, five grandchildren, several step-grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.