In Memoriam: Joseph Kissane

Joseph Kissane, former Director of Columbia’s Summer Session, former School of General Studies Dean of Students, and a beloved preceptor of English and comparative literature, passed away from COVID-19 on April 19, 2020.

Described by many as an extraordinary person, Joseph was “smart, savvy, thoughtful, gracious, loyal, kind, and always good-humored,” explained David Scott Kastan, George M. Bodman Professor of English at Yale University. The two shared a mutual interest in Shakespeare. “Even after I left Columbia,” Kastan wrote in an email, “Joseph and I stayed in touch, usually after he had seen some Shakespeare production (and he seemed to see them all) and had noticed some rearrangement of the text, or an actor’s interpretation of a speech, or a director’s idea about how to make the play relevant to a modern audience.”

Born in Pittsburgh, Penn. on December 4, 1930, Joseph Kissane graduated from Central Catholic High School and Duquesne University. After serving in Korea as a 2nd lieutenant in the Army during the mid-1950s, he enrolled at Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, where he earned an MA in 1956 and a PhD in 1968. His field of study, according to friend and Columbia Professor Emerita Joan Ferrante, was 18th century novel. His dissertation focused on Jane Austin and Samuel Richardson.

“He led a fascinating life,” Ferrante said.

That life not only included travel, hearing concerts, and attending the theater, but also dinners with friends such as former co-worker Carl Burton. “Joe was probably the best company I’ve ever met,” said Burton, who was a preceptor in English at Columbia upon earning his master’s and PhD in English literature from GSAS in 1963 and 1973 respectively. “He was wickedly funny. He was a wonderful boss—so supportive.”

Thomas Kissane, Joseph’s younger brother, recalled how his older sibling was thoughtful and kind and that he could talk to him about anything. He was an excellent mentor. “He would go out of his way to help you,” said Thomas.

“I loved his wry and sometimes savage wit which, oddly, was combined with a charitable and kind disposition, an inclination to accept people as he found them, and to find in them what was of value. I learned a lot from him,” Frank Wolf, Dean Emeritus of Columbia University School of Professional Studies, said of Joseph.

Joseph enjoyed teaching. Not only was he an instructor for GS, but he also taught English to veterans in Germany for University of Maryland and served on the faculties of Rutgers University and Hunter College.

Ferrante, who spent many an afternoon and evening with Joe after a day of work at Columbia recalled that her neighbor, who had had Joseph as a teacher, described him as, “The best professor I ever had.” He was very dedicated to his students, both as a teacher and an administrator.

Kissane was GS Dean of Students in the late 1960s and 1970s, when many matriculants were veterans returning from Vietnam. Burton explained that Joseph, having been a veteran himself, helped students transition from the horrors of war into an academic life. “He was a good counselor to students,” said Burton, whose late wife Carol was Director of Development and Alumni Affairs at GS from 1981 to 1994.

“He was very good and fair to students,” Hugh Babinski, former Columbia faculty member and close Kissane friend, concurred.

“He was extraordinary in many ways. Sympathetic to the students’ points of view, and a very good administrator. He ran a tight ship, yet in a gentle way. It’s a gift to be able to do that.”

Babinski saw Kissane often. His fondest memories included 45 years of dinners shared and planned with Joan Ferrante. “We discovered that we all liked cooking and our birthdays were nine days apart, so we planned an annual dinner party—elaborate, 13-course dinner parties with menus in French and live chamber music preludes!”

The last one was in November. “It’s an incredible loss,” Babinski said. “He was always there.”