Morehead-Cain Trustee Emeritus Robert Cluett, 1932–2026
The Morehead-Cain community grieves the loss of longtime trustee Robert “Bob” Cluett (1932–2026), who passed away on May 9 in Ontario, Canada.
Cluett served the Morehead-Cain Board of Trustees for thirty-eight years, from 1968 to 2006, and founded the Canadian Morehead-Cain Program. He was a first cousin twice removed of John Motley Morehead III, and the father of trustee Holly Gwynne-Timothy, who has served nearly fifteen years on the Morehead-Cain Board of Trustees across two terms: from 2006 to 2016 and from 2020 to present.
His work with Morehead-Cain informed his vision to establish the Loran Scholars Foundation in 1988. The Toronto-based charitable organization, previously known as the Canadian Merit Scholarship Foundation, awards scholarships to students entering university in Canada. Cluett served as the founding chair and CEO for twelve years, stepping down from the leadership roles in 2000.
“Robert was a fierce advocate for supporting the next generation of leaders through the power of educational opportunities, and he always believed that strength of character was the necessary trait for true excellence,” said David C. Wright ’80, former chair of the Morehead-Cain Board of Trustees. “It was no surprise to his fellow trustees that he’d go on to found Canada’s first national organization to grant undergraduate awards on the basis of merit.”
Education, military service
Cluett was a triple-alumnus from Columbia University. He received his bachelor’s degree in creative writing in 1954, followed by a master’s in English literature with high honors in 1961. The trustee emeritus earned his PhD in English literature, with a focus on the history of prose style, with high honors in 1969.
While he was pursuing his undergraduate degree in New York City, he was a trainee in stock brokerage at Burton Dana & Co. and a trainee in law at Thacher Proffitt & Wood. Shortly following his graduation, he served the U.S. Coast Guard as a commanding officer at the Loran Transmitting Station Cape Athol in northwest Greenland from 1956 to 1957. After completing his time in the United States Armed Forces, he taught English at Kent School in Kent, Connecticut, for nine years while pursuing his master’s and PhD.
Beginning in 1967, Cluett taught as a professor of English at York University, where he later received an honorary doctorate of letters and served as a professor emeritus and senior scholar. Cluett directed York’s graduate program in English and was the head coach for the women’s varsity squash team. He also chaired a committee on admissions through the York University Senate, and he was a trustee for the pension fund.
As a writer, Cluett authored more than fifteen books and monographs as well as forty articles. His writings include Making Homemade Wine (1981), Canadian Literary Prose: A Preliminary Atlas, (1990), and his family memoir, The Gold of Troy: An Inquiry into Family Mythology and Personal History (2003), to name a few. In the greater literary world, Cluett worked as a contributing editor for Squash Life Magazines for six years, as an editorial advisory board member for the literary journal American Review, and as chair of the Northeast Modern Language Association’s Victorian literature section and the computers and literature section.
A keen eye for leadership potential
Cluett spent his career investing in young people across Canada and the United States. He was an impassioned teacher and coach (hockey, football, and squash), a dedicated husband to Thayer Cluett, and a loving father of four. He remembered Morehead-Cain and Loran recipients with detail and affection long after their interviews.
“Even in his nineties, Robert had an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the Canadian Morehead-Cain Scholars,” said Chris Bradford, president of the Morehead-Cain Foundation. “It was clear how deeply curious he was about young people and their development, and how seriously he took the work of providing opportunities to promising students.”
In addition to Morehead-Cain and the Loran Foundation, Cluett helped select candidates for the Ontario Graduate Scholarship and the Queen Elizabeth Awards in the Province of Ontario, which recognize Canadians who have demonstrated outstanding service to their community and country.
“We’ll forever be grateful for Bob’s invaluable perspective on the Program’s work and direction,” said Charles E. Lovelace, Jr. ’77, former executive director of the Morehead-Cain Foundation. “He was an exceptional appraiser of young talent and a devoted steward of their development as future leaders. He was always fully committed to the task at hand and unshakably anchored by his values.”
Cluett’s legacy will be celebrated at the 40th anniversary of the Morehead-Cain Canadian Scholars Program in Toronto on June 6.