Wm. Theodore de Bary

Wm. Theodore de Bary
Born
William Theodore de Bary

(1919-08-09)August 9, 1919
DiedJuly 14, 2017(2017-07-14) (aged 97)
Academic background
Alma materColumbia University (BA, MA, PhD)
Academic work
InstitutionsColumbia University
Main interestsChinese literature, Neo-Confucianism

William Theodore de Bary (Chinese: 狄培理; pinyin: Dí Péilǐ; August 9, 1919 – July 14, 2017) was an American Sinologist and scholar of East Asian philosophy who was a professor and administrator at Columbia University for nearly 70 years.

De Bary graduated from Columbia College in 1941, where he was a student in the first year of Columbia's famed Literature Humanities course. He then briefly took up graduate studies at Harvard University before leaving to serve in American military intelligence in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Upon his return, he resumed his studies at Columbia, where he completed his Ph.D. in 1953.