Hamilton President Joan Hinde Stewart announced in an e-mail to the campus community the death of life trustee James T. Rhind:
Earlier today I learned of the death of Life Trustee James T. Rhind, a member of the class of 1944, and the father of James ’83 and David ’85. Jim had been fighting cancer for more than a year, but had emergency hip replacement surgery after a fall in December and the operation left him unable to continue his cancer treatment. He died peacefully early Wednesday morning at the age of 90. The family has arranged a private burial tomorrow morning and plans a memorial service for late April in Chicago.
Jim was kind and generous. Two of his greatest passions were the arts and Hamilton. He combined them as a member of the Performing Arts Advisory Committee and in establishing, with his wife Laura, the James T. and Laura C. Rhind Arts Fund to support performances in Wellin Hall. Jim and Laura also endowed the Rhind Family Scholarship. First elected a charter trustee in 1975, he served as vice chair of the board from 1980 to 1990, when he was named a life trustee.
After serving three years in the U.S. Army, Jim spent a year in Japan as a translator for the U.S. War Department. Upon his return, he enrolled at Harvard Law School, received his degree in 1950 and joined the Chicago law firm of Bell, Boyd & Lloyd, where he served as managing partner and chairman of the Executive Committee. Except for a two-year period in 1953 and 1954 when he worked in Washington, D.C., with the Eisenhower Administration, he spent his entire career at Bell, Boyd & Lloyd.
I always enjoyed my visits with Jim and his family and have felt a special bond with him since first meeting him 10 years ago. He will be missed by many.
