Eugene Augustus Vance ’57

Eugene Augustus Vance ’57, Ph.D., died on May 14, 2011, after a plane he was piloting crashed at Arlington (Washington) Municipal Airport. Originally a member of the class of 1956, he came to Dartmouth from Noble & Greenough School. He majored in English and was a member of Casque & Gauntlet, the Camera Club, ski team, rowing club (captain) and Ski Club Carcajou (president). He had a French class with professor Ramon Guthrie, and it was then that he began seriously pursuing a career in medieval literature. Gene earned his M.A. in 1958 and Ph.D. in 1964, both from Cornell. Gene began his teaching career as an assistant professor of English and French at Yale in 1962 and then taught at Universite de Montreal and Emory University. In 1990 he joined the faculty at the University of Washington, where he taught French comparative literature and comparative religion. He published five books, most notably Reading the Song of Roland and Mervelous Signals: Poetics and Sign Theory in the Middle Ages. According to his colleagues, he put a modern twist on the interpretation of medieval literature from Saint Augustine to Dante, revitalizing a field once considered stodgy. Gene was attracted to outdoor adventure and music. He fly-fished and played the oboe. He first piloted a plane at age 18. He is survived by children Adam, Jacob and Anna, a sister and one grandchild. Ted Jennings ’57 writes that “ ‘Oogie’ was always a fiercely independent person, never quite in trouble with the authorities, a fine professor.”