John M. Karl Faculty died on June 27, 2025, in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

(The following was provided in an email by President Zaki to the college, in August 19, 2025:)

To the Bowdoin community,

We recently learned of the passing of Associate Professor of History Emeritus John M. Karl, who died on June 27 at the age of 93 in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Born in Locarno, Switzerland, John’s early life took him from Europe to Costa Rica and then to New Hampshire, where he attended the newly founded High Mowing School. His path to academia included work on farms, and for railroads, a lumber company, and an electric utility company. After earning an A.B. from Harvard in 1954, he served for two years in the US Army Ordnance Corps in Germany. He received a Fulbright Fellowship to study in Germany in the early 1960s and then returned to Harvard as a teaching fellow. He earned his PhD from Harvard in 1973.

In 1968, he joined the Bowdoin faculty, where for nearly three decades he taught courses on European history from the Renaissance to the modern era, including modern German and Russian history, the Reformation, and the youth movement in Germany before the First World War.

His former students, colleagues, and friends remember John as a gifted teacher and a generous mentor. His knowledge of modern European history was broad and deep, and his lectures were woven seamlessly with a sensitivity to how individuals experienced their own times. Many alumni recall him as one of the faculty members who made them feel welcome and encouraged, especially during the years after Bowdoin admitted women.

A consummate lecturer, John relied on carefully prepared, color-coded notes, which gave him the flexibility to adapt his pace, covering key points if time grew short or pausing for a sidebar story so students could catch up. His enthusiasm for history was matched by a genuine belief in his students’ abilities. He was known for his long walks, which were as much a part of his craft as the time spent in his office or the library, as they provided opportunities to reflect on historical questions and to shape his next lecture.

John served as chair of the history department, led the Faculty Institute on Teaching, and contributed to Holocaust education through an advisory committee role. He retired from Bowdoin in 1997.

We join his stepsisters Isabel and Brigitta Karl, his stepbrother Christian Karl, and the many others whose lives he touched in honoring his kindness, intellectual generosity, and lifelong commitment to learning.

Sincerely,

Safa