A new public room for the Division of Special Programs in Lewisohn Hall was dedicated in memory of Ward H. Dennis, dean of the School of General Studies from 1977 to his death in 1992, in a ceremony last Friday.
Members of his family were on hand as Provost Jonathan R. Cole and Frank Wolf, dean of the Division of Special Programs, spoke about Dennis' long-standing commitment to bringing the best a major research university has to offer to qualified people from all sections of society and from all parts of the world.
Cole said the opening of the room completed the University's effort to recognize Dennis' achievements.
He recalled that before Dennis died Columbia had named the Junior Faculty Development Fund in his honor, to reflect his championing the interests of junior faculty in the arts and sciences. After his death, his friends and family established the Ward H. Dennis Scholarship Fund, the largest single endowed scholarship in the School of General Studies.
Wolf noted that the dedication of the Dennis Room marked the completion of the Lewisohn Hall renovation project. He noted that Dennis was indeed a "bridge builder; a connector; an integrationist." The room, he said, will be used "in precisely the democratic and inclusive way in which Ward would have wanted."
Columbia University Record -- March 29, 1996 -- Vol. 21, No. 21