Colclough, Oswald Symister
From GWUEncyc
President
Acting President of George Washington University
1959-1961 and 1964-1965
Oswald Symister Colclough (1898-1981) served twice as acting President of The George Washington University, from 1959-1961 and 1964-1965. He was also a professor of law and Dean of the Law School from 1949-1953, Dean of Facilities from 1953-64 and Provost from 1961-64, retiring from GW in 1964.
Colclough was born in Monroetown, Pennsylvania on November 18, 1898. He died January 26, 1981 in Chevy Chase. Maryland. Following graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1920, he attended GW's Law School and received an LL.B. in 1935, receiving the John Bell Larner Medal for the highest grades in the bachelor of laws program. While at the Naval Academy, Colclough served with the Atlantic Fleet in World War I.
In 1945 he was promoted to rear admiral and in November of that year he was confirmed by the Senate as Judge Advocate General of the Navy. During World War II he commanded submarines for the North Pacific Fleet, later serving as commanding officer of the battleship North Carolina. He retired from active military service in 1950 with the rank of vice admiral.
Admiral Colclough was active in professional and public service roles in the law, defense policy, education and government throughout his academic, legal and military careers. He was a member of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations Conference on Law of the Sea in 1958 and 1960, Chairman of the White House Disarmament Task Force on Navy Inspection, 1955-1958, and Director of the Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Research Institute at GW, among other positions. In 1961 GW awarded him an honorary degree as Doctor of Science.
Document Information
Images: 1
Photographic Credit: GW University Historical Photographs Collection
Author or Source: University Archives subject and personnel files/38; Hatchet student newspaper; Bricks Without Straw
Document Location: University Archives
Date Added to Encyclopedia: December 21, 2006
Prepared by: G. David Anderson, University Archivist and Historian; Lyle Slovick, Assistant University Archivist
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