Leigh Carrington Rhett Sr. died peacefully on March 17, at home on his farm in Halifax County, Va. Born to Albert Haskell and Emma Riley Leigh in December of 1920, he was raised in Summit, N.J. As a young boy, he spent summers with his family on Chappaquiddick, where he became an avid sailor and nature enthusiast. Later in life, his mother purchased a home and established residence on Chappaquiddick. The family continued returning to the Island for vacation after his mother passed away in 1964.

A graduate from Summit High School, he attended the University of Virginia, where he played football for the Cavaliers. He served in the U.S. Army, Corp of Engineers, as First Lieutenant during World War II before returning to the University of Virginia where he obtained a law degree. After serving in the Korean War, he earned a master’s degree in economics from Columbia University and worked for the Bank of New York while residing in Brookside, N.J. He earned a PhD in business administration from New York University in 1962.

Dr. Rhett served in various capacities as a college and university administrator. Among his many academic accomplishments, he was assistant professor of economics at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. Between 1963 and 1969, he was dean of the School of Business and Economics and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at California Western University in San Diego, Calif. He retired in 1993 after 10 years as president of the University for Humanistic Studies. He was active in the community and served on the board of trustees for a number of nonprofit organizations.

He was a resident of San Diego before relocating to Virginia in 2007. He was a devoted photographer of nature, especially wildflowers. In 2005, he published Wildflowers of the Guy Fleming Trail, a tribute to the natural beauty of Torrey Pines State Park in California. In the following year, he published his book on philosophy, One Life to Live, a guide for living a good life while dealing with the stress and demands of the modern world.

Dr. Rhett was respected for his academic acumen and known for his unflinching honesty and his mischievous sense of humor. He was a man of principles and a spiritual leader. He will be greatly missed by his wife and children.

He leaves his wife and good friend, Alice Runping Zheng, PhD three sons from his first marriage to Virginia Cooper: Leigh Carrington Jr., Albert Haskell and his wife, Jane, of San Diego, Calif., and Henry Cooper and his wife, Angeline, of Sisters, Ore.; two sons from his second marriage to Beatriz Mariscal: William Leigh, PhD and his wife, Alex Corina, of Sacramento, Calif., and Randolph Leigh, JD and his wife, Angela Dale, of San Diego, Calif.

Interment was held on March 21, at Mountain View Cemetery, Danville, Va., with Reverend Wilson Carter officiating.