Jean Alexander Kemeny
Jean Alexander Kemeny - beloved widow of Dartmouth's 13th President
John G. Kemeny, celebrated author of fiction and nonfiction books, and
vivacious role model for generations of women at Dartmouth - died peacefully
in
her hilltop, Etna, NH, home on Wednesday evening, January 22nd. Her passing
followed prolonged complications from cancer; she was 72 years old.
Born in 1930, the older daughter of Robert and Laura Alexander from
Burlington, VT, Jean grew up on the rocky coast of Maine. She became the first
student from Cape Elizabeth High School to attend Smith College. And it was
during her freshman year that she met her future husband while attending a
World Federalist Conference at Princeton, where he was a graduate of the
mathematics program and a philosophy professor; they were married in 1950. Four
years later, they moved to Hanover, NH, where Dr. Kemeny came to teach and
rebuild Dartmouth's Mathematics Department. Together, they built remarkable,
life-long careers at the College that have spanned 50 years.
During the first two decades, while Dr. Kemeny taught his courses,
founded a world-class math department, wrote his books and transformed the
development of computers, Mrs. Kemeny raised their two children, led
political/civic/educational programs within the community, acted and sang in
various local productions, and advised and supported her husband in ways once
described as "holistically beneficial" to themselves and every one
beyond them.
In 1970, Dr. Kemeny was named president of Dartmouth College and Mrs.
Kemeny found herself thrust into a new role for which there was no official
recognition or even a job description. So, in her typical can-do fashion, the
once shy and self-conscious small town girl created a role for herself that
proved as revolutionary as the times in which she lived. A gracious and
creative hostess who made an indelible impression on luminaries from Albert
Einstein to President Jimmy Carter, Mrs. Kemeny also rose to prominence as an
outspoken activist for civil and women's rights and in support of Dartmouth's
conversion to coeducation, which came into being during the Kemeny
Administration. A consummate "people person," she was a loyal and
generous
friend whether they were campus Building and Grounds workers or Nobel Prize
winners; a sensitive politician, enthusiastic fund raiser and colorful
ambassador of Alumni Relations, she aided Dartmouth in countless ways and was
adopted as an honorary member of "the Great Class of '53," which she
considered
one of her fondest memories.
Describing his wife's contributions to his presidency, Dr. Kemeny once said,
"When I say that I could not have done this job without the help and support
of
my wife, I am making a simple, factual statement. Her contributions to the
welfare of the College and its president have been manifold. Often they have
been achieved at great personal sacrifice. The thirteenth presidency has been
a
two-person team effort."
In her 1979 autobiographical book, It's Different at Dartmouth, Jean Kemeny
chronicled the decade she spent as "First Lady" of Dartmouth College.
In one
reflective moment toward its end, she wrote - with characteristic humor,
candor, irony and humility:
"Uneducated and ignorant, I founded a new school in 1970 - a school for
one
presidential wife. I wrote the primers, devised the curriculum and taught the
courses to myself. I determined what questions to ask, and mastered some of
the
answers. This book is my thesis, written under an adviser - me. When I
graduate, it may not be with honors, but my grade should be more than a
gentlewomanly C+."
Current Dartmouth president Jim Wright and his wife Susan have been close
friends of the Kemenys for 30 years. And last week, as they paid their respects
at her bedside, President Wright was able to compliment her, "It is 'Different
at Dartmouth,' and a large part is due to you, Jean." Indeed, her spirit
enlivened the entire College; may that same spirit live on at the heart of the
Dartmouth Community for generations to come.
Mrs. Kemeny's husband died in 1992. She is survived by her daughter, Jennifer,
of Etna, NH; son, Rob, of Midlothian, VA; her four grandsons and sister Judy.
A
memorial service and celebration of her life will be held in Rollins Chapel
on
the Dartmouth campus at 3:00 pm on February 4th. Donations can be
made to the
John & Jean Kemeny Scholarship and/or the Jean Kemeny Scholarship funds.