Former Hope President John H. Jacobson Dies

HOLLAND - Dr. John H. Jacobson, who was president of Hope College for 12 years, died on Tuesday, Feb. 8 in Sarasota, Fla., of complications following a stroke. He was 71.

Jacobson became Hope's 10th president on July 1, 1987, and served until retiring on June 30, 1999. In retirement, he and his wife of 50 years, Dr. Jeanne McKee Jacobson, who survives him, moved to Sarasota, Fla.

"We are shocked and saddened by John's untimely death. He served the college well during his presidency, and I will always remember him as a true gentleman and a genuinely delightful person to be with," said President James Bultman, who succeeded Jacobson.

"John Jacobson left a strong legacy at Hope, especially through his commitment to the multicultural dimension of the college and the campus ministries program," Bultman said. "He had a vision for what Hope could be long after his presidency, including a vision for the recently completed capital fund-raising campaign, 'Legacies: A Vision of Hope.'"

Dr. Jacob Nyenhuis was the college's provost and worked closely with Jacobson throughout his 12-year presidency.

"John Jacobson used his brilliant mind and deep faith in God in dedicated service to our beloved college for 12 years, during which time there were many significant changes at Hope," Nyenhuis said. "He has gone to be with our Lord, leaving family and friends to grieve our loss, but his gentle spirit and wisdom live on in those of us who knew, respected and loved him."

Jacobson's tenure at Hope was marked by growth of the college itself and significant recognition for Hope and members of the college community.

During Jacobson's presidency, Hope's enrollment grew from 2,710 to 2,911. The college's growth is reflected in additions to campus including the Knickerbocker Theatre (1988), Lugers Fieldhouse (1991), DeWitt Tennis Center (1994), Haworth Inn and Conference Center (1997) and Cook Residence Hall (1997). The college's Van Wylen Library also opened during the spring of his first year as president.

Academic highlights included one national and two state "Professors of the Year," and the appointment of three students as "British Marshall Scholars." Hope was in the top 25 nationally among baccalaureate colleges as a source of Ph.D. recipients from 1991 to 1995 in the natural, physical and social sciences, according to a report by the National Science Foundation in 1997. Hope also became the only private, four-year, liberal arts college in the country to have national accreditation in art, dance, music and theatre.

During his presidency, the college developed a multi-dimensional comprehensive plan to improve minority participation at Hope, with priorities including focusing on minority student recruitment and retention, increasing the presence of minority faculty and staff, and emphasizing cultural understanding. Strengthening Christian life and witness at the college was among the four major emphases of the successful "Hope in the Future" capital campaign, which ran from 1992 to 1994.

Prior to coming to Hope, Jacobson was provost and vice president for academic affairs at Empire State College, State University of New York (SUNY) in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. He joined the Empire State faculty in 1972 as dean of the college's Rochester Center in Rochester, New York. He became vice president for academic affairs in 1974 and provost in 1980. He twice served as acting president of the college.

Before joining the Empire State faculty, he was a faculty member in philosophy at Hamilton College (N.Y.) and at Florida Presbyterian College. He also served as dean of the faculty and vice president for academic affairs at Florida Presbyterian College (now Eckerd College).

Jacobson was an active participant in scholarly and professional organizations. He gave presentations at national meetings of the Association of American Colleges, and had served as an educational consultant to Corning Glassworks, the University of Maine, American People's Encyclopedia, and the West African Conference on University Outreach held in Ibadan, Nigeria. He was included in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the East among others. He was born on Nov. 6, 1933, in Evanston, Ill. He received a bachelor's degree with high honors in philosophy from Swarthmore College in 1954, and master's and doctoral degrees in philosophy in 1956 and 1957 respectively from Yale University.

He received an honorary degree from Hope in 1987 and from Empire State College in 1996.

The college's Board of Trustees established an endowed chair at Hope in honor of both John Jacobson and Jeanne Jacobson in 1999, as a retirement recognition. An adjunct professor emerita of education, Jeanne Jacobson was a member of the Hope faculty from 1996 to 1999, and has been a Senior Research Fellow with the college's A.C. Van Raalte Institute since 1996.

In addition to his wife, survivors include three living children, John Edward Jacobson, Jean Katharine Pokrzywka and Jennie Jacobson; eight grandchildren; a sister, Mary Cotton-Miller; and a brother, Carl Whitney Jacobson. He was preceded in death by a son, James George Jacobson.

A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 16, at 2 p.m. at Siesta Key Chapel in Sarasota. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hope for the John and Jeanne Jacobson Scholarship Fund, or to Doctors Without Borders.

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