Dean Mathey ’08

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Tennis Champion, Princeton Scholar, Wimbledon Winner

Dean Mathey’s talents in tennis and ice hockey overshadowed his many other athletic skills. Interscholastic Singles Champion twice, he won the coveted National Schoolboy Tennis Championship in 1908. Pingry Class President and Princeton Phi Beta Kappa scholar, he captained the Tiger Tennis Team and twice won the Intercollegiate Doubles Championship, in addition to playing hockey for three years. A”top ten” American singles player in 1916, he competed in major U.S tournaments, often in mixed doubles with America's women champions. A four-time competitor at Wimbledon, he paired with France’s woman champion and also defeated Belgium’s singles Davis Cup player. In 1923, he defeated the legendary William “Big Bill” Tilden before leaving world class tennis for Wall Street. A Davis Cup Committee member, he was named a Knight of the Crown by Belgium’s King Leopold in 1937. Successful businessman, patriot, philanthropist, author, and loyal alumnus, Dean Mathey was the first recipient of Pingry’s highest honor, the Letter In Life, awarded in 1938 in recognition of his myriad lifetime achievements.