Jeremiah Denis Mathias Ford (1873–1958) was an American educator and author. He was the Smith Professor Emeritus of the French and Spanish Languages and Literature at Harvard University from 1907 to 1943. He was the youngest-ever to be appointed a professor at Harvard, the first Catholic faculty, and the last ever appointed as Chairman of the Department of Romance Languages from 1911 to 1943. Biography Ford was born 2 July 1873, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He graduated from Thorndike Grammar School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1886. From 1886 to 1887, he attended the North Monastery Christian Brothers School in Cork, Ireland. He then attended the Science and Art Department in South Kensington, London, England, from 1887 to 1888. In 1988, he was awarded Distinction in Chemistry and Math in the Science and Art Department Examinations. He was awarded First Scholar & Gold Medal in English in the Junior Grade, in 1888, and the Silver Medal for German, in 1889, from the Intermediate Education Board, Dublin, Ireland. He attended Harvard Law School from 1891 to 1892, attaining honors his first year. He then transferred, and attended Harvard College, receiving an A.B., Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude, in 1894; A.M., in 1895; and Ph.D, in Romance Philology, in 1897. Ford was the first Catholic ever hired by Harvard University, he was appointed Instructor in French and Italian in 1895, Harvard Harris Fellow in Romance Philology, Instructor-in-Residence to l'Universitê de Paris, from 1897 to 1898, Instructor in French and Spanish in 1898, Instructor in Romance Languages, in 1899, and Assistant Professor of Romance Languages at Harvard University. Then, the youngest professor ever at Harvard, he was appointed Smith Professor of the French & Spanish Languages & Literature at Harvard, in 1907, a chair that had been vacant since 1886. He held that Chair until his retirement in 1943, when he became Smith Professor Emeritus. Notable student's of Fords included Chandler Rathfon Post. On January 1, 1902, he married Anna Winifred Fearns, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They had four children. He died at his home in Cambridge on November 13, 1958. Languages Courses taught at Harvard Honorary degrees Docteur-ès-Lettres from the Université Toulouse, France, on 21 Mar 1922. Doctor of Letters from the National University of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland, on 28 Oct 1932. Degree of Doctor of Letters from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, on 05 Jul 1934. Doctor of Letters from Bowdoin University, Brunswick, Maine, in