Josiah Bunting III(born November 8, 1939) is anAmericaneducator. He has been a military officer, college president, and an author and speaker on education andWestern culture.Bunting is married and has four adult children. His half-brother isDick Ebersol,the creator and former executive producer ofSaturday Night Live;Ebersol and Bunting have the same mother.[1]
Josiah Bunting III | |
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 Bunting speaks at theMiller Center of Public Affairsin 2011. | |
| Born | November 8, 1939 Haverford, Pennsylvania |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1966 –1972 |
| Rank |  Major |
| Unit | 9th Infantry Division |
| Other work | Author |
Background
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Josiah Bunting was born inHaverford, Pennsylvania.He attendedThe Hill Schoolin Pottstown, Pennsylvania, and theSalisbury Schoolin Connecticut, but was expelled from both institutions for playing pranks.[2]He then entered theU.S. Marine Corps.Bunting went on toVirginia Military Institutewhere he graduated third in his class as an English major in the Class of 1963, and was elected to aRhodes scholarshipto attend theUniversity of Oxford,where he received an M.A. and also served as president of theAmerican Students Association.He entered theUnited States Armyin 1966. After six years of service, he reached the rank ofMajor.He was stationed atFort Bragg,North Carolina; Vietnam; andWest Point,where he was assistant professor of history and social sciences.
Bunting's 1972 novelThe Lionheadswas a scathing account based on his experiences as an officer of the9th Infantry Divisionin Vietnam in 1968. The novel's main antagonist, General Lemming, was based heavily on the commanding general,Julian Ewell.[3]
The July 28, 1972 issue of LIFE magazine included a profile written by Thomas Moore of then Major Bunting examining his decision to leave West Point because of his desire to "disassociate [himself] from the active implementation of [the Army's] policy in Vietnam..." In the article Bunting also stated that he favored a "citizen draft and civilian control over the military" and that he didn't "want to see that son of a bitch who grows up in Greenwich, Conn., goes off toYaleand becomes a member of theSkull and Bonesget out of doing some sort of national service. "Bunting served on the faculty of theNaval War Collegefor a year in 1973–74.[4]
Bunting served as president ofBriarcliff College,and later as president ofHampden–Sydney Collegefrom 1977 to 1987. He was also the headmaster of TheLawrenceville SchoolnearPrinceton, New Jerseyfrom 1987 to 1995. At Hampden–Sydney he revitalized the English composition or Rhetoric Program, enhanced the Western Civilization program, then called Western Man, making it more interdisciplinary. He also spearheaded the Campaign for Hampden-Sydney, a capital campaign that nearly tripled the college's endowment.
Bunting was appointed Superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute in 1995 and served until 2003. At VMI, he served as Professor of Humanities. He was responsible for overseeing preparations for and the enrollment of VMI's first female cadets. He was openly opposed to allowing women to attend VMI, calling the 1997 decision inUnited States v. Virginiawhich struck down VMI's male-only admittance policy a "savage disappointment."[5]
Bunting is also a member of the UNESCO Commission and of the National Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington.
In 2004, Bunting was appointed chairman of the National Civic Literacy Board of theIntercollegiate Studies Institute.
In 2007, Bunting was appointed president of ISI's Lehrman American Studies Center.
In 2015, Bunting was appointed chairman of the Friends Of the National World War II Memorial.[6]
Books
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edit- Small Units in the Control of Civil Disorder(1967)
- Ulysses S. Grant(Times Books/Henry Holt, 2004), part of theAmerican Presidentsseries (ed. Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.)
- The Making of a Leader: The Formative Years of George C. Marshall(Knopf, 2024)
Novels
edit- The Lionheadsselected one of the Ten Best Novels of 1973 byTimemagazine.
- The Advent of Frederick Giles(1974).
- An Education for Our Time(Regnery, 1998), a work describing a "dying billionaire's detailed vision of a new, ideal college", was a main selection of theConservative Book Clubin 1998.
- All Loves Excelling(Bridge Works, 2001), set in a boarding school.
Edited editions
edit- Macaulay, Thomas Babington.Lays of Ancient Rome(Gateway, 1997)
- Newman, Cardinal John Henry.The Idea of a University(Gateway, 1999)
Military service record
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| Major United States Army | ||
Awards and decorations
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- Combat Infantryman Badge
- Parachutist Badge
- Bronze Star Medalwith twooak leaf clusters
- ArmyCommendation Medal
- Presidential Unit Citation
- National Defense Service Medal
- Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
- Vietnam Service Medal
- Vietnam Armed Forces Honor Medal,Second-Class
- Vietnam Campaign Medal
- Ranger Tab:
- Ninth Infantry Division ( "Old Reliables" )shoulder sleeve insignia (SSI):
References
edit- ^Lemon, Richard (March 11, 1983)."Live from Litchfield! It's the Improbable Duo of Dick Ebersol and Susan Saint James".People.RetrievedJune 14,2015.
- ^Finn, Peter (August 15, 1997)."Leading the March Into Coeducation".Washington Post.RetrievedJune 14,2015.
- ^Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam: Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife,p. 185, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002,ISBN0-275-97695-5.
- ^Moore, Thomas. LIFE, July 28, 1972. Volume 73, Number 4.
- ^Ian Shapira (2020-10-27) [2020-10-26]."VMI superintendent resigns after Black cadets describe relentless racism".The Washington Post.Washington, D.C.ISSN0190-8286.OCLC1330888409.[please check these dates]
- ^"Josiah Bunting III, Chairman, Friends of the National World War II Memorial".