Professor emeritus of religion and former Dean of the Faculty Hans Penner, who helped develop the Dartmouth Plan and was a leading figure in the religion department for many years, died Saturday Feb. 25 after a battle with lung cancer, Susan Ackerman, chair of the religion department, said in an email to The Dartmouth. He was 78 years old.
Penner spent four decades at Dartmouth, joining the faculty in 1965 as a religion professor after four years of teaching at the University of Vermont. He served in various other positions during his time at the College before retiring in 2000, according Anna Penner, his wife of over 50 years.
"It was a long career," she said. "The one that I think he was proudest of was being the dean of the faculty for a four-year stint."
From 1980 to 1984, Penner served as dean under former President David McLaughlin. Penner appointed long-time friend and colleague James Wright to the assistant dean position in 1981, and Wright went on to become president of the College in 1998.
Wright and Penner remained in close touch over the years, and Wright attended Penner's 78th birthday dinner a few weeks ago, he said.
"He was a good personal friend, and I had a tremendous admiration for him and feel a great sense of loss," Wright said. "I think he was an exemplary Dartmouth faculty member and a model teacher."
Within the College's administration, Penner was also involved with "every major committee," religion professor Ronald Green said.
Penner served as the chair of the Committee on Educational Policy from 1971 to 1973, during which time the College became coeducational, and helped develop the Dartmouth Plan as a way to make room for women without decreasing the number of male students.
Within the religion department, Penner was instrumental in instituting fundamental changes.
"He pioneered our introductory course, Religion 1, which we still teach with modifications," Green said.
The course was later adopted by universities across the country, he said.
Penner worked to diversify the areas of study represented in the department while bringing faculty together in their common interests, former professor Robert Henricks said.
"A lot of religion departments in the country are primarily interested in Judaism and Christianity, but right from the beginning we were not like that," Henricks, who taught Chinese religions, said. "That was Hans, and that was unique."
Penner ensured the fair and equal treatment of all department members, and became a "godfather figure" to the faculty, Henricks said. Despite his dominating physical presence and strong opinions, Penner maintained an open mind.
"His door was always open," Henricks said.
Penner was close to students within the religion department, according to religion major Rupa Mukherjee '99. Penner presented Mukherjee with the Religion Department Faculty Prize and the Charles Howard Dudley Prize, recognizing her excellence in the department during her senior year.
"He was very involved with the students in terms of what their interests were, what they were doing and where they were going," Mukherjee said. "We got to know each other."
Penner had a particular interest in Buddhism, which he explored throughout his career. He traveled to India after receiving a Fulbright Scholarship in 1965 and wrote a book about Buddhism with a prestigious grant he received from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in 2004.
The book, "Rediscovering the Buddha: The Legends and Their Interpretations," became a "significant contribution to the field" after its publication in 2009, Wright said.
Penner also delivered a lecture on the topic to the Wake Robin Retirement Community in Shelburne, Vt., where he lived with his wife for five years.
"Many people in the audience didn't know much about the field," Anna Penner said. "They were absolutely mesmerized."
In addition to being active within the religion department and administration, Penner also became engaged with social causes and advised students facing the draft during the Vietnam War era, Green said.
"He never wavered in his support of faculty research resources, academic freedom or affirmative action," religion professor Nancy Frankenberry said in an email to The Dartmouth. "Penner was a popular teacher, but he was also an important leader in the life of the College."
Penner recently became a board member of the organization Patient Choices Vermont, which advocates "death with dignity" legislation. Even after being diagnosed with inoperable stage IV lung cancer, Penner continued his involvement with the cause.
Dick Walters, president of Patient Choices Vermont and fellow Wake Robin resident, served on the board with him until Penner stepped down due to his illness.
"He was a firm believer in choice both at the beginning and at the end of life," Walters said. "There's nobody in this community who did not know and admire Hans. He was a joy to be with."
Penner also enjoyed the company of his friends and had a range of interests that included "a good argument or chess game, the sound of train whistles and the music of Beethoven," Frankenberry said.
Memorial services will be held for Penner at Wake Robin, according to his wife.
