Robert Kilburn Root (1877-1950) served as Princeton’s sixth dean of the faculty from 1933 to 1946. Serving the University for over four decades, Root was an authority on American English literature and a respected campus leader.

A New York City native, Root earned a bachelor's degree and a doctorate from Yale University. Concurrent with his doctoral studies, Root served as a tutor in English at Yale, and upon completing his degree, he was named an instructor in English from 1903 to 1905.

Root came to Princeton in 1905 as one of University President Woodrow Wilson’s original preceptors. He became a full professor in 1916. An English scholar, Root was described by The New York Times as a “world authority on [Geoffrey] Chaucer.” He wrote extensively on the English poet throughout his career, including “Manuscripts of Chaucer’s Troilus” in 1914.

Root remained at Princeton for 41 years, advancing to English department chair from 1926 to 1933.

Mastery of Old English was required of every English major of that era, which made Root’s course on the history of language — “Root’s Roots” — an essential experience for every student in the program. “Dean Root has been particularly noted for his clear and precisely organized lectures, which have unfailingly ended exactly as the bell has begun to ring at the end of the hour,” remarked one of his students.

During his tenure as dean of the faculty, Root was instrumental in creating the Princeton wartime program, training 20,000 Army and Navy officer candidates and 3,000 civilians for wartime jobs. His term was extended for one year as the University looked to Root for guidance as it transitioned into its post-World War II exploits.

Dean Root was lauded by colleagues for “his firm grasp on every aspect of curricular construction, his shrewd appraisal of teaching personnel, and his always lucid and succinct expositions of the state of Princeton’s scholastic health.”

Root earned honorary doctorates from Yale in 1937 and Brown University in 1940. He was a fellow of the Medieval Academy of America, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the Modern Language Association of America.

Written by Shane B. Black for the Office of the Dean of the Faculty.