Jane L. Pinchin P’01 (1942–2025)
Dear faculty and staff,
I am writing today to share the sad news of the death of Bowdoin Trustee Emerita Dr. Jane L. Pinchin P ’01, a widely respected educator, administrator, and mentor at Colgate University whose work in higher education helped shape generations of students and faculty. Jane died peacefully on Sunday morning at the age of eighty-two.
Jane was born on August 21, 1942, in New York City and spent her childhood in Manhattan. A graduate of Harpur College, part of the State University of New York in Binghamton, Jane earned her master’s degree in 1965 at Columbia University and her doctorate in 1973, also at Columbia.
She began her career at Colgate in 1965 as the university’s first full-time female professor. Over the years, she served in many key roles at Colgate, including as the Thomas A. Bartlett Professor in the Department of English, chair of the English department, provost and dean of the faculty, and interim president. She also served as acting director of the Picker Art Gallery, vice president for academic advancement, and director of both the humanities and university studies divisions.
Jane’s academic specialties included E. M. Forster and Virginia Woolf, the Bloomsbury Group, Wallace Stevens, the Brontës, women in literature, and contemporary literature. Over the course of her career, she authored numerous publications across a range of formats. These include the monograph Alexandria Still: Forster, Durrell and Cavafy (Princeton University Press, 1977; reissued by the American University in Cairo Press, 1989), as well as chapters on Lawrence and Gerald Durrell in Blood Brothers: Siblings as Writers (1983). She contributed scholarly articles to volumes such as Critical Essays on Lawrence Durrell (1987) and journals and newspapers including Twentieth Century Literary Criticism, Modern Fiction Studies, and The Christian Science Monitor. She was awarded an honorary doctorate by Colgate in 2018.
Jane played an important role during a pivotal time in higher education. As Colgate transitioned to coeducation, she and her colleagues helped develop new academic programs, including women’s studies and other interdisciplinary fields. She often described those early years as a period of invention, where faculty rethought both what was taught and how it was taught.
Beyond the classroom, Jane was a steady and effective leader. Even after her formal retirement in 2015, she remained involved in campus life, continuing to teach and support the university’s Living Writers program and other initiatives.
Jane believed deeply in the importance of connecting student life with intellectual life. She often spoke about the value of a liberal arts education not just in academics, but in shaping how students live, think, and engage with their communities. Her thinking helped influence the physical and cultural design of Colgate’s campus, including the commons system and residential spaces like Jane Pinchin Hall—a 100-bed residence hall named in her honor in 2019.
In March 2022, as Colgate marked fifty years of coeducation, the university held a tribute to Jane. At the event, colleagues and alumni reflected on her role in making Colgate more inclusive, more thoughtful, and more forward-looking. President Brian Casey captured the community’s respect for her in a moment of lightheartedness—noting that during the COVID-19 pandemic, when they used posters of six-foot-tall celebrities to demonstrate social distancing, they included Jane alongside figures like Tom Hanks and Mr. Rogers. The point was clear: Jane Pinchin was part of the fabric of the university.
While Jane spent most of her professional life at Colgate, her impact extends beyond a single institution. A Bowdoin parent (Katerina Pinchin ’01) with her late husband, Hugh, she was named to the Bowdoin College Board of Trustees in 2003 and served as chair of the Academic Affairs Committee and as a member of the Executive Committee and the Presidential Search Committee that selected Clayton Rose. She was elected trustee emerita by the board in 2023.
Jane's work as a professor and as a trustee was deeply based on her values and her commitment to a liberal arts education, the transformative value of the humanities, the importance of equity in the classroom, and the role of institutions in preparing students not just for careers, but for lives of purpose and engagement.
We offer our deepest condolences to Jane’s children, Sarah, Katerina, and William, to her other family members, and to her many colleagues, former students, and the entire Colgate community. She leaves a legacy of thoughtful teaching, inclusive leadership, and unwavering dedication to students.
Sincerely,
Safa
I am writing today to share the sad news of the death of Bowdoin Trustee Emerita Dr. Jane L. Pinchin P ’01, a widely respected educator, administrator, and mentor at Colgate University whose work in higher education helped shape generations of students and faculty. Jane died peacefully on Sunday morning at the age of eighty-two.
Jane was born on August 21, 1942, in New York City and spent her childhood in Manhattan. A graduate of Harpur College, part of the State University of New York in Binghamton, Jane earned her master’s degree in 1965 at Columbia University and her doctorate in 1973, also at Columbia.
She began her career at Colgate in 1965 as the university’s first full-time female professor. Over the years, she served in many key roles at Colgate, including as the Thomas A. Bartlett Professor in the Department of English, chair of the English department, provost and dean of the faculty, and interim president. She also served as acting director of the Picker Art Gallery, vice president for academic advancement, and director of both the humanities and university studies divisions.
Jane’s academic specialties included E. M. Forster and Virginia Woolf, the Bloomsbury Group, Wallace Stevens, the Brontës, women in literature, and contemporary literature. Over the course of her career, she authored numerous publications across a range of formats. These include the monograph Alexandria Still: Forster, Durrell and Cavafy (Princeton University Press, 1977; reissued by the American University in Cairo Press, 1989), as well as chapters on Lawrence and Gerald Durrell in Blood Brothers: Siblings as Writers (1983). She contributed scholarly articles to volumes such as Critical Essays on Lawrence Durrell (1987) and journals and newspapers including Twentieth Century Literary Criticism, Modern Fiction Studies, and The Christian Science Monitor. She was awarded an honorary doctorate by Colgate in 2018.
Jane played an important role during a pivotal time in higher education. As Colgate transitioned to coeducation, she and her colleagues helped develop new academic programs, including women’s studies and other interdisciplinary fields. She often described those early years as a period of invention, where faculty rethought both what was taught and how it was taught.
Beyond the classroom, Jane was a steady and effective leader. Even after her formal retirement in 2015, she remained involved in campus life, continuing to teach and support the university’s Living Writers program and other initiatives.
Jane believed deeply in the importance of connecting student life with intellectual life. She often spoke about the value of a liberal arts education not just in academics, but in shaping how students live, think, and engage with their communities. Her thinking helped influence the physical and cultural design of Colgate’s campus, including the commons system and residential spaces like Jane Pinchin Hall—a 100-bed residence hall named in her honor in 2019.
In March 2022, as Colgate marked fifty years of coeducation, the university held a tribute to Jane. At the event, colleagues and alumni reflected on her role in making Colgate more inclusive, more thoughtful, and more forward-looking. President Brian Casey captured the community’s respect for her in a moment of lightheartedness—noting that during the COVID-19 pandemic, when they used posters of six-foot-tall celebrities to demonstrate social distancing, they included Jane alongside figures like Tom Hanks and Mr. Rogers. The point was clear: Jane Pinchin was part of the fabric of the university.
While Jane spent most of her professional life at Colgate, her impact extends beyond a single institution. A Bowdoin parent (Katerina Pinchin ’01) with her late husband, Hugh, she was named to the Bowdoin College Board of Trustees in 2003 and served as chair of the Academic Affairs Committee and as a member of the Executive Committee and the Presidential Search Committee that selected Clayton Rose. She was elected trustee emerita by the board in 2023.
Jane's work as a professor and as a trustee was deeply based on her values and her commitment to a liberal arts education, the transformative value of the humanities, the importance of equity in the classroom, and the role of institutions in preparing students not just for careers, but for lives of purpose and engagement.
We offer our deepest condolences to Jane’s children, Sarah, Katerina, and William, to her other family members, and to her many colleagues, former students, and the entire Colgate community. She leaves a legacy of thoughtful teaching, inclusive leadership, and unwavering dedication to students.
Sincerely,
Safa