Joseph Charles Asch ’79

Joseph Charles Asch ’79 died on October 9, 2018. Joe grew up in Montreal, Canada, and studied history and French at Dartmouth, where he was a ski instructor, a DJ at WDCR, and a French and Italian drill instructor. Joe attended Yale Law School and had two children, Henry and Tory. He lived in Hanover and owned and operated several businesses, including the River Valley Fitness Club, a venture capital fund, and a medical supply business. As an alumnus, Joe audited more than 30 Dartmouth classes. In 1999 he founded the College’s departmental editing program, which placed high school teachers into academic departments to assist students with their writing. He funded the program through 2007. Between 2001 and 2009 Joe wrote columns for The Dartmouth, voicing his opinions about the direction of the College. In August 2009 he transitioned to Dartblog, a platform he used to advise and counsel the College’s leadership, always looking to improve his beloved Dartmouth. Joe’s writing and intellect were of the highest order and he relished lively debate. One College official commented, “Asch’s level of scrutiny of Dartmouth—just what he could glean from his network and from what Dartmouth has to publish about itself or what its leaders say about it—was at the level you would expect in a for-profit entity by someone who had a deep ownership stake.” Aa a friend stated, “This is a big loss for Dartmouth.”