Jean Alexander Kemeny, wife of Dartmouth's thirteenth president John Kemeny, died at home in Etna, N.H. on Thursday at the age of 72.
In her memoir "It's Different at Dartmouth," one of two books Kemeny published, Kemeny noted the ambiguity and difficulty of her role as the Dartmouth president's wife, yet described energetically rising to the challenge: "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+."
Besides "It's Different at Dartmouth," Kemeny wrote an historical novel about World War II titled "Strands of War," published in 1984, for which she drew on historical resources available at Baker Library while conducting her research.Kemeny hosted many notable figures in the president's home on Webster Avenue, including Albert Einstein and President Jimmy Carter.
John Kemeny acknowledged publicly on several occasions the important contributions his wife made to his presidency.
"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," he once said.
James Wright, Dartmouth's current president, praised Jean Kemeny's involvement with the Dartmouth community in similarly glowing terms. He noted that her spirit enlivened the entire College in a press release. "May that spirit live on at the heart of the Dartmouth community for generations to come," he said.
Kemeny was also active in many local groups. She acted and sang in local productions and volunteered for numerous political groups that campaigned for women's and civil rights. Kemeny was known in particular for being an advocate for co-education in the 1970s.
John Kemeny, who died in 1992, served as Dartmouth's president from 1970 to 1981.His presidency saw the controversial advent of co-education, the institution of the D-Plan and the abolition of the Indian mascot.
Before becoming president of Dartmouth, John Kemeny also helped create the BASIC programming language and helped strengthen Dartmouth's mathematics department.
Kemeny was born Jean Alexander in 1930. She grew up on the coast of southern Maine and became the first graduate of Cape Elizabeth High School to attend Smith College.
Kemeny met her husband-to-be as a freshman at Smith when attending a World Federalist conference at Princeton University, where John Kemeny was a philosophy professor. They were married in 1950.
The Kemenys moved to Hanover in 1954, after John Kemeny was hired by the mathematics department.
Kemeny's survivors include her daughter, Jennifer, of Etna, NH; son, Rob, of Midlothian, VA; her four grandsons and her sister Judy. A memorial service honoring Kemeny will be held at Rollins Chapel Feb. 4 at 3 p.m.
Donations can be made in Kemeny's honor can be made to the John & Jean Kemeny Scholarship and/or the Jean Kemeny Scholarship funds.
