Obituary
Whitman mourns the death of professor Paul Dewey
Assistant professor of art Paul Dewey died January 9 at his home in Walla Walla. He was 62.
A member of the Whitman faculty since 1969, Dewey is remembered as "one of the kindest, most dedicated, and most giving members of this community," said Pat Keef, dean of the faculty. "He and his classes were very popular with students, as evidenced by the fact that his classes were invariably over-enrolled."
In addition, said Keef, Dewey provided important leadership to the art department, serving as chair of the department on a number of occasions.
A 1966 graduate of the Uni-versity of Utah, Dewey received a master's degree in art history from the University of Iowa in 1970 and had done extensive research toward a Ph.D. in art history from the University of Washington at the time of his death.
Recipient of art history scholarships from the University of Iowa and the University of Washington as well as faculty grants from Whitman, Dewey conducted research on New Deal art of the 1930s in Washington state. He also studied Oriental and African art and American art and architecture, and recently, his research focused on women artists through the ages.
At Whitman he taught a full load of art history classes and helped develop and team-teach two "cluster" courses: Art and Literature between the Wars, and the Light of Distant Skies, which combined art, literature, and history.
Dewey directed several significant art exhibitions at Whitman. A special achievement was a rare loan of works from the University of Arizona Museum of Art's Kress collection of Renaissance and Baroque art, which he brought for the dedication of Olin Hall gallery (now Sheehan Gallery) in 1972.
Dewey took on many other Whitman responsibilities over the years, serving on faculty search committees, building steering committees, and the College's art advisory committee.
He was a member of the College Art Association, the American Association for Higher Education, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
Dewey is survived by his wife, Michelle, and his two children, Joe and Kristin.
