Kenneth C. Hogate
July 27, 1897 – February 11, 1947
Kenneth C. Hogate grew up in journalism. His father, Julian DePew Hogate, class of 1893, was a small-town Indiana newspaper editor in Danville, Indiana. Following his example, Kenneth Hogate pursued journalism at DePauw, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1918. As a student, Hogate was editor of The DePauw Daily, board member of the Mirage, and member of the Sigma Delta Chi journalism society, and multiple other student activities. He was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity and played on the varsity football team.
At the age of 24, Hogate joined The Wall Street Journal as chief of its Detroit news bureau. The next year, he transferred to the paper’s New York office, becoming its managing editor in 1923. Hogate was promoted to vice president of the journal’s parent company, Dow Jones & Co. in 1926, followed by general manager in 1928, and finally, president in 1933. Hogate’s leadership guided the journal through the Depression and WWII periods and he is accredited with shaping the paper into its present position of high national regard. Hogate also broke into the field of politics, elected mayor of Scarsdale, New York in 1941. At the time of his untimely death at age 49, Hogate was chairman of the board of Dow Jones & Co.
Over the course of his illustrious life, Hogate served as the national president of Sigma Delta Chi, president of the Financial Press Companies of America, member of the Committee for the Study of the Organization and Administration of the New York Stock Exchange. He was also a member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the American Newspaper Publishers Association, The Methodist Church, and as a member of the Board of Grand Trustees of Sigma Chi.
Hogate maintained a life-long commitment to DePauw, serving on the board of trustees for 12 years. He was awarded the university’s first Old Gold Goblet in 1941 and was an inaugural member of the DePauw Media Wall of Fame. He married his college sweetheart, Anne Hogate Hamlet* ’18, who became a trustee in 1955. Two of their daughters went on to attend the university. On October 11, 1968, the $1.6 million Hogate Hall was dedicated in his honor.
Hogate Hall was razed in May 2020 due to the construction of a new first-year dormitory.