Orton Havergal Hicks '21, vice president emeritus of the College, died of natural causes Saturday night at the Kendal retirement community in Hanover. He was 96.
According to a Public Affairs Office press release, Hicks served as vice president for development, alumni affairs and public relations at the College from 1958-66, following a long career in the film industry.
Hicks, a member of the Class of 1921 and a 1922 graduate of the Amos Tuck School of Business, was born in Minneapolis in 1900.
As an undergraduate, he played center on the football team, was associate managing editor of The Dartmouth, a member of Palaeopitus and helped to form the Green Key Society, according to the press release.
As an alumnus, he served as president of the Class of 1921, an overseer of the Tuck School and as president of the Alumni Council.
In 1958, Hicks returned to the College from his successful business career to become a vice president of the College, following the urging of then-College President John Sloan Dickey, the press release states. Hicks helped to begin Dartmouth's department of film studies during his tenure as vice president.
In 1986, he was named the first recipient of the Eleazar Wheelock Award for Extraordinary Service to Dartmouth.
Hicks' business career began with the Eastman Kodak company, but he later went on to found Films, Inc., a distributor of entertainment to schools, hospitals and churches, according to the press release. In 1935, Hicks founded the Seven Seas Film Corporation, which supplied films to ships.
During World War II, Hicks served as a lieutenant-colonel in the United States Army .
A memorial service will be held in Hicks' memory at Kendal next weekend, and the College will hold its own memorial service in July.
