Brace, Richard M. (Richard Munthe), 1915-1977

Dates

• Existence: 1915 - 1977

Biography

Richard Munthe Brace was born in Alameda, California on August 11, 1915. He took all his degrees at the University of California, Berkeley: B.A. (1936), M.A. (1937), and Ph.D. (1940).

From 1941 to 1943 Bruce taught history at the University of Maine. During the tatter part of World War II he taught at Pomona College (California) where he was also director of the European language and area program (France and Spain) for the U.S. Army. Brace then taught at the University of Colorado from 1945 to 1947. In the latter year he accepted an invitation to join the Northwestern University faculty as an associate professor of history. Northwestern promoted him to professor in 1957. Brace held this position until 1965 when he moved to Oakland University (a branch of Michigan State University, in Rochester, Michigan) as professor and chairman of its history department. His research and teaching interests centered on French and modern European history.

Brace spent 1968-1969 as a visiting professor at the University of California, San Diego. In the fall of 1969 he returned to Oakland University. He remained on the Oakland faculty until his death in June, 1977.

In 1939 Brace married Joan Tilden von Schmidt; the couple had two children: Geoffrey R. (born ca. 1943) and Pamela, later Mrs. Douglas Holcomb (born ca. 1945).

Often accompanied by his wife, Brace frequently traveled to France and Algeria. In 1961 the Braces founded the Algerian Children's Fund and were active in its fundraising and administration during the five years of its existence. Their goal, successfully achieved, was the establishment of a home for Algerian children orphaned during the revolution against French rule.

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