Blythe Bickel Edwards (1941–2024)
To the Bowdoin community,
I write with the sad news that Blythe Bickel Edwards died on Friday, November 1, at the age of 83. Blythe was the partner in work and in life of Bob Edwards, Bowdoin’s thirteenth president, and she left her own indelible mark on the College.
Blythe Morton Bickel was born on June 1, 1941, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the daughter of William and Christine Bickel. She attended Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut, and earned her undergraduate degree in philosophy with honors at Wellesley College in 1963.
After she graduated, Blythe’s first job was as a research assistant for Encyclopedia Britannica in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She then embarked on a career in education, beginning at the Bement School in Deerfield, Massachusetts, where she taught math and Latin to fifth, sixth, and eighth graders. She was a resident advisor at Harvard University, an admissions officer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and assistant to the Committee on Undergraduate Admissions at Harvard College. She later served as assistant dean of admissions at Amherst College and spent seven years at Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts, where she was active in event management, campus planning and design, and fundraising, among other areas.
Throughout her life, Blythe was engaged in volunteer and leadership activities at a number of institutions, including the Weston Public Schools in Weston, Massachusetts; the Beaver Country Day School in Brookline, Massachusetts; the Deerfield Chamber Music Series; the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children; and North Yarmouth Academy in Maine, where she served as a trustee. Blythe also served on Brunswick’s General Joshua L. Chamberlain Statue Committee that led the effort to commission and install a statue at the intersection of Upper Park Row and Maine Street to honor the memory of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Bowdoin Class of 1852.
Blythe married Bob Edwards in 1988, in Paris, two years before Bob was named president of Bowdoin. In fact, Bob’s transformational presidency might never have happened if not for Blythe’s encouragement and intervention. As they later recounted in a Bowdoin Magazine interview, they were living in Paris when Bob received information about the Bowdoin presidency in the mail. Bob, who had served as president of Carleton College from 1977 to 1986, decided that he had already led one small college and set the letter aside. Blythe retrieved the material and a few days later asked Bob, “What about Bowdoin?” Having traveled in Maine during the 1970s and 1980s, she had developed an affection for the state and wanted to live in Maine, saying later “there is this ability to carve your own way here that I really love.”
And carve her own way she did. During the presidential search process, she and Bob had many serious discussions about their roles with the late John Magee ’47, H’96, then chair of the presidential search committee and later chair of the board of trustees. Blythe knew that serving as the president’s spouse would require a significant commitment of time and would draw on her professional experience, so she took the unprecedented step of requesting employee status. She agreed to an annual salary of $5,000—the minimum needed to qualify for benefits—and her contract with Bowdoin was signed at the same time as her husband’s.
Blythe’s sense of design and space heavily influenced the extensive renovations and new construction that took place during Bob’s presidency, including the renovation of Pickard Theater and Memorial Hall, the construction of Wish Theater and new student residences, and the restoration of the Chapel interior. Blythe was especially proud of two additional projects—Thorne Dining Hall and the David Saul Smith Union. Blythe also focused much attention on reimagining and enhancing Bowdoin events and ceremonies like Commencement, The Bowdoin Prize, the kickoff of the New Century Campaign, and the College’s bicentennial celebration, among others.
In 2013, in a fitting tribute to their sustained efforts to elevate the arts at the College, the former Longfellow Elementary School was transformed by Bowdoin into the Robert H. and Blythe Bickel Edwards Center for Art and Dance.
In addition to Bob—her husband of thirty-six years—Blythe is survived by her two sons, William Kaufmann of San Francisco and Jonathan Kaufmann of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and four grandchildren.
Throughout her time at Bowdoin and in the years since, Blythe maintained a keen interest in the College and our campus. I first met Blythe and Bob when they and I joined trustees and other guests at the dedication of the John and Lile Gibbons Center for Arctic Studies in May 2023. They later invited me and Huff to their home in Edgecomb, and I will always be grateful for their kindness, hospitality, and enthusiastic welcome. Our hearts go out to Bob and to his and Blythe’s family and friends with deep gratitude for Blythe’s many and lasting contributions to Bowdoin.
Sincerely,
Safa
I write with the sad news that Blythe Bickel Edwards died on Friday, November 1, at the age of 83. Blythe was the partner in work and in life of Bob Edwards, Bowdoin’s thirteenth president, and she left her own indelible mark on the College.
Blythe Morton Bickel was born on June 1, 1941, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the daughter of William and Christine Bickel. She attended Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut, and earned her undergraduate degree in philosophy with honors at Wellesley College in 1963.
After she graduated, Blythe’s first job was as a research assistant for Encyclopedia Britannica in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She then embarked on a career in education, beginning at the Bement School in Deerfield, Massachusetts, where she taught math and Latin to fifth, sixth, and eighth graders. She was a resident advisor at Harvard University, an admissions officer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and assistant to the Committee on Undergraduate Admissions at Harvard College. She later served as assistant dean of admissions at Amherst College and spent seven years at Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts, where she was active in event management, campus planning and design, and fundraising, among other areas.
Throughout her life, Blythe was engaged in volunteer and leadership activities at a number of institutions, including the Weston Public Schools in Weston, Massachusetts; the Beaver Country Day School in Brookline, Massachusetts; the Deerfield Chamber Music Series; the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children; and North Yarmouth Academy in Maine, where she served as a trustee. Blythe also served on Brunswick’s General Joshua L. Chamberlain Statue Committee that led the effort to commission and install a statue at the intersection of Upper Park Row and Maine Street to honor the memory of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Bowdoin Class of 1852.
Blythe married Bob Edwards in 1988, in Paris, two years before Bob was named president of Bowdoin. In fact, Bob’s transformational presidency might never have happened if not for Blythe’s encouragement and intervention. As they later recounted in a Bowdoin Magazine interview, they were living in Paris when Bob received information about the Bowdoin presidency in the mail. Bob, who had served as president of Carleton College from 1977 to 1986, decided that he had already led one small college and set the letter aside. Blythe retrieved the material and a few days later asked Bob, “What about Bowdoin?” Having traveled in Maine during the 1970s and 1980s, she had developed an affection for the state and wanted to live in Maine, saying later “there is this ability to carve your own way here that I really love.”
And carve her own way she did. During the presidential search process, she and Bob had many serious discussions about their roles with the late John Magee ’47, H’96, then chair of the presidential search committee and later chair of the board of trustees. Blythe knew that serving as the president’s spouse would require a significant commitment of time and would draw on her professional experience, so she took the unprecedented step of requesting employee status. She agreed to an annual salary of $5,000—the minimum needed to qualify for benefits—and her contract with Bowdoin was signed at the same time as her husband’s.
Blythe’s sense of design and space heavily influenced the extensive renovations and new construction that took place during Bob’s presidency, including the renovation of Pickard Theater and Memorial Hall, the construction of Wish Theater and new student residences, and the restoration of the Chapel interior. Blythe was especially proud of two additional projects—Thorne Dining Hall and the David Saul Smith Union. Blythe also focused much attention on reimagining and enhancing Bowdoin events and ceremonies like Commencement, The Bowdoin Prize, the kickoff of the New Century Campaign, and the College’s bicentennial celebration, among others.
In 2013, in a fitting tribute to their sustained efforts to elevate the arts at the College, the former Longfellow Elementary School was transformed by Bowdoin into the Robert H. and Blythe Bickel Edwards Center for Art and Dance.
In addition to Bob—her husband of thirty-six years—Blythe is survived by her two sons, William Kaufmann of San Francisco and Jonathan Kaufmann of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and four grandchildren.
Throughout her time at Bowdoin and in the years since, Blythe maintained a keen interest in the College and our campus. I first met Blythe and Bob when they and I joined trustees and other guests at the dedication of the John and Lile Gibbons Center for Arctic Studies in May 2023. They later invited me and Huff to their home in Edgecomb, and I will always be grateful for their kindness, hospitality, and enthusiastic welcome. Our hearts go out to Bob and to his and Blythe’s family and friends with deep gratitude for Blythe’s many and lasting contributions to Bowdoin.
Sincerely,
Safa