Paul Hurd’s Hyde file includes a simple notation:
“1st candidate for admission interviewed at Hyde School.” The first student enrolled at Hyde, Paul Hurd concluded his
1966 Hyde application essay with these words: Suffice it to say that the deeds of Paul Hurd’s life more than matched his words.
Enrolling as a post graduate student following his graduation from Bath’s Morse High School, Paul excelled both in and outside the classroom. He then went on to Bowdoin College, graduating with a degree in History. After earning his Master’s Degree at the University of Chicago and beginning his teaching career at Beaver Country Day (Brookline MA), Paul returned to Hyde where he spent decades as a master teacher to generations of Hyde students. His government class was a rite
of passage. Paul’s courses reflected his deep commitment to the best in teenagers as well as his dedication to scholarship. A lifelong historian, Paul was long active in the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and also served on staff at the Ohio Historical
Society. During his career he also served as Director of Studies at Norfolk Academy (VA). Paul and his wife Laurie Gauld Hurd ’75 contributed to Hyde’s pioneering efforts, serving on the founding faculty teams of Hyde models in New Haven and Woodstock, CT. All three of their children are also Hyde graduates: Zachary ’99, Georgia ’03, and Meredith ’04. The entire community mourned Paul’s passing due to a car accident in November 2013. It is perhaps a testament to his contributions to all of us that the memorial service in his honor held the largest audience of any campus event in Hyde history.
