William De Witt Hyde (September 23, 1858 – June 29, 1917)[1][2] was an American educator and academic administrator who served as the president of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, for thirty-two years, from 1885 to his death in 1917.

Born in Winchendon, Massachusetts, Hyde graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1874,[3] from Harvard University in 1879, and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1882.

Ordained to the Congregational ministry in 1883, he was a pastor in Paterson, New Jersey, from then until 1885.

In 1906, he penned the poem "The Offer of the College," which was given to every student at Bowdoin until 1969.

[5] It was subsequently edited to reflect the changing demographics of the student body.