Dear Members of the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» Community,
I write today with the sad news that Jane Pinchin, whose legacy as a teacher-scholar and administrative leader touches nearly every aspect of this University, died on Sunday morning.
Jane first came to Colgate in 1965 for a single year as an instructor, joining in the very first wave of full-time female faculty members at the University. After receiving her PhD from Columbia University, she returned to the English department in 1973 as an assistant professor, eventually becoming a full professor in the department.
Jane went on to serve in several significant positions in the administration, including Provost and Dean of the Faculty (1994–2001) and Vice President for Academic Advancement (2002–05). She also led the University as Interim President in the 2001–02 academic year.
Jane led two academic divisions (University Studies and Arts and Humanities); founded the Manchester Study Group; oversaw the revision of the Liberal Arts Core Curriculum; pioneered the creation of Category I faculty appointments; and worked to establish the Women’s Studies Program, the Upstate Institute, and the Max A. Shacknai Center for Outreach, Volunteerism, and Education (COVE). She also served as acting Director of the Picker Art Gallery (2003–05), Chair of the Department of English (2005–13), and a member of Colgate’s Bicentennial Committee.
Jane made distinguished contributions as a scholar and teacher. Her book Alexandria Still: Forster, Durrell, and Cavafy is an enduring work of scholarship that was first published in 1977, with a new edition in 1989 and a Spanish edition in 2005. Her teaching included departmental courses on the Brontës, E.M. Forster, and Virginia Woolf.
For many years, alongside her English department colleague Professor Jennifer Brice, Jane co-taught the Living Writers course, which allows students, parents, alumni, and community members to engage in conversation with world-renowned authors.
Jane was also an active volunteer in several capacities, including the Community Memorial Hospital Board of Directors in Hamilton and the Bowdoin College Board of Trustees.
Colgate’s Alumni Corporation created its Humanitarian Award in her honor in 2003. She received a Maroon Citation from the Alumni Corporation; the French, Alumni Memorial, and AAUP Professor of the Year awards; and special tributes from the classes of 2002 and 2011. She received an honorary doctor of letters from Colgate in 2018.
In 2019, after an anonymous donation from a family that wished to recognize the essential work of the Colgate faculty, one of two new residence halls on the upper campus was named in her honor.
Jane was, at her core, a humanist and an institutionalist. She believed to the very depth of her being in the importance of studying the human condition through an examination of and an enjoyment in literature and art. Her love of beauty and beautiful poetry and prose animated her and attracted people to her.
She took joy in the work of the University and served Colgate because she believed in its mission.
I must close with a more personal note. During my first year at Colgate, Jane came to my office many times. She wanted to see how I was doing and, in her warm way, to offer guidance. She believed that to lead required one to love, and she wanted to make sure I truly knew Colgate and all the reasons the University and its people were worthy of such love. Her visits were tutorials in the history of Colgate, its faculty, and its spirit. During that first year, I would send drafts of important emails and speeches to her so that she could make sure they always conveyed a true and deep care for the institution. The drafts always came back with subtle yet important edits. As was the case with so many faculty members, students, and alumni, she took care of us. I know she took care of me, that year and beyond.
It is rare to see the workings of a formidable mind informed as hers was by such a capacious heart. It is rarer still to be able to walk about a campus knowing that, to an exceptional and sustained degree, we all still benefit from that combination, found in a pioneering scholar, teacher, and friend, Jane Pinchin.
Brian W. Casey
President