An Ordinary Life

This book is about the three phases of the life of Herman Eugene Kessler Jr.: military officer, computer administrator, and educator. Born in Manhattan, New York, my mother was Annah Noering, and my father was Herman Eugene Kessler. I grew up in Brooklyn and, in 1940, received a scholarship from Harvard College. I was graduated in June 1943 summa c*m laude and Phi Beta Kappa. Commissioned a second lieutenant in November 1943, I fought in Italy and received two battle stars.
On February 1, 1949, I was married to Mary Clarkson Boykin. We had two children and are still together after more than sixty years.
I was graduated from Harvard Business School in 1950 with High Distinction having been selected as a Baker Scholar (HBS Honor Society).
During my military career, I was graduated from the United States Army Command and General Staff College and the Army War College. I commanded field artillery units in Italy, Korea, Germany, and the United States and served as a staff officer at field army, theater army, department of the army, and joint staff levels. I retired on July 1, 1970 as a permanent regular army colonel.
After retiring, I became assistant director of the Test Development Division, Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey. In 1971, Henry Chauncey, retiring president of ETS, asked me to come with him as the vice president and treasurer of EDUCOM, a consortium of colleges concerned with computing in higher education.
In 1980, we moved to Chapel Hill, and I became an adjunct professor of business administration in the University of North Carolina. In 1988, we moved to Camden, and I retired for the last time. In 2005, we moved to Still Hopes Episcopal Retirement Community in West Columbia, South Carolina, where we still live.