A Compressed Life

ON DECEMBER 26, FORMER President John Kemeny died of a heart attack at his home in Etna. He was 66 an early age for most, but this man had led a remarkably compressed life.

He had had a role in some of the defining issues of our time: atomic weaponry, nuclear power, gender relations, computers, and rapid change in higher education. He assisted Albert Einstein, developed the seminal computer language BASIC with Math and Computer Sciences Professor Thomas Kurtz, brought coeducation to Dartmouth, and chaired the Three Mile Island Commission.

His work in these and other fields were informed by his three vocations of teacher, scholar, and administrator, callings that he met simultaneously. When the decision was made to matriculate women, for example, President Kemeny created a mathematical model of enrollment that helped form the basis for the year-round Dartmouth Plan.

"Well-rounded" is an erroneous (and much too prosaic) description for this extraordinary man. "Wellintegrated" may come closer. This magazine will attempt more detailed descriptions in future issues. Ed.