Alexander D. Nagy, 1955
B.A., Denison University
E.D.D., Stanford university
M.A., Northwestern University
Culver Academies
Culver, Ind.
Citation awarded June, 1980
Dean Alexander Nagy, deputy superintendent of both Culver Military Academy and Culver Girls Academy and master instructor in history, holds the distinction of being named the first Kaser Scholar, which recognizes faculty with exceptional “scholarly interests, enthusiastic teaching, sympathetic understanding, and wise counsel”, at Culver in 1977.
Nagy joined the Culver faculty in 1956, and rose quickly in academic rank to master instructor, chaired the history department, and held the Eugene C. Eppley Chair of History. He was appointed Culver’s first dean of students in 1971, acting dean of the academics in 1974, and deputy superintendent in 1976.
In 1979, Nagy was honored by being named to the newly established Almore H. Teschke, who graduated from Denison in 1930, Endowed Memorial Chair at Culver. He was selected for the chair at the request of the donors because of the respect and admiration they felt for him as counselor to the Teschkes’ only son during his Culver years.
Nagy is known and respected outside of the Academy by colleagues in secondary education, the college sector, and the College Entrance Examination Board. In the 1970s, he was appointed to two national committees of the College Board, the American History Discipline Committee and the committee charged with preparation of the Advanced Placement American History Examination. In 1974, he was named table leader among the Advanced Placement Readers in American History Examinations since, 1971 and a consultant for the College Board since 1974.
In 1971, Nagy was named a William Robertson Coe Fellow of the Institute of American History at Stanford University, where he has studied and/or taught each succeeding summer.
A friend and admirer on the Denison faculty wrote of him, “Culver alumni who enroll at Denison testify to the remarkable way in which Al makes an institution work by humanizing it. I don’t believe I have ever known of a person in the high school years who evoked as much love and admiration.”
