Martin Carovano
Memorial Minute for Martin Carovano, former President of Hamilton College, presented by Robin Kinnel, Silas D. Childs Professor of Chemistry Emeritus on November 5, 2019.
Born on May 9, 1935, John Martin Carovano spent his earliest years in Tacoma, Washington. Following high school Martin entered Pomona College, and graduated in 1957 with a bachelor’s degree in Economics. At Pomona he met Barbara Bevins, from Chico, CA and they were married in 1958. Following a brief stint in the Army, Martin went to UC Berkeley to further his interest in Economics. During their time at Berkeley, Martin and Barbara had two daughters, Kristen and Kathryn.
In 1963 while still completing his Ph. D., Martin joined the Hamilton faculty as an instructor and rose through the ranks to tenured associate professor in 1969. Shortly thereafter administration called on his financial acumen, clear-headed thinking and genial personality and he was appointed Acting Provost in 1971 and confirmed as Provost the following year. When the then president of Hamilton John Chandler was named president at Williams College in 1973, and an abortive search for a successor left the College leaderless, Martin was chosen as acting president in early 1974; later that year the trustees appointed him as the 16th president. For fourteen years Martin served the college with temperance, resolve and clarity. Those years were more than a little turbulent as they involved the merger with Kirkland College, the women’s college that had opened in 1969 on the other side of College Hill Road. While there are diverse opinions about the policies that Martin oversaw during those years, it is clear that his knowledge, patience, honesty, ability to speak clearly and plainly, and foresight had a great deal to do with the excellence that characterizes Hamilton today. Anyone who visited him in his office would see the sign on his desk that said “Relax,” but only those who asked would see that the other side of that sign also said “Relax.” He clearly was able to follow his own advice during his tenure as president. When the opportunity and weather would allow, he would enjoy his brown bag lunch at the picnic table behind Buttrick Hall, welcoming anyone who cared to join him.
In 1988 Martin and Barbara elected to leave Hamilton, and for the next couple of decades Martin followed his passion for nature by working with the New York chapter of the Nature Conservancy, first as the director then as planned giving officer. In 2009 Martin retired from the Nature Conservancy and he and Barbara moved to Berkeley, CA, where he and Barbara had spent their earlier years. The cultural richness of Berkeley and the milder California climate suited their tastes well, and they also were closer to their daughter and grandson.
For more than twenty years, Martin and Barbara maintained a camp, which they called “The Hut,” on Twitchell Lake in the Adirondacks. Neighbors remember him chopping and splitting a great deal of wood, no doubt releasing any tensions that arose from his work at Hamilton or at the Nature Conservancy. Frequent visitors were former provost Dan O’Leary and his wife Michol, with whom Martin and Barbara maintained a lifelong friendship. The foursome frequently enjoyed traveling together on a variety of adventures.
Martin and Barbara were among the early and enthusiastic supporters of the Clinton A Better Chance program, and continued to help the program even while living in California. They maintained a close relationship with one of the early students in the program, Apolo Catala, whom they considered a “chosen son,” and for whom they served as a host family during his time in the ABC house.
While the accomplishments of his presidency are a matter of record, Martin Carovano is remembered as a warm, thoughtful, disciplined and humble man of considerable grace and integrity. His tenure as a member of the Hamilton College community is memorialized in Martin’s Way, the path linking the parts of the campus on either side of College Hill Road.
Martin succumbed to Parkinson’s disease on August 12, 2019. He is survived by his wife Barbara, a daughter, Kathryn, and a grandson Nico. His other daughter Kristen predeceased him in 2008.
