Passing of Jonathan Crewe, Leon D. Black Professor Emeritus of Shakespearian Studies

Jonathan Crewe, Leon D. Black Professor Emeritus of Shakespearian Studies and inaugural director of the Leslie Center for the Humanities passed away on Sunday, Oct. 9. He was 81 years old.

Born on July 12, 1941 in South Africa, Jonathan earned an M.A. from the University of Natal before moving to the United States in 1974. He completed his Ph.D. in English at the University of California, Berkeley before taking an appointment at Johns Hopkins University. After rising to the rank of associate professor, Jonathan left for the University of Tulsa in 1987 to serve as a full professor.

Arriving at Dartmouth in 1990, Jonathan continued his impressive academic career. In 1997 he was named the Willard Professor of English and Comparative Literature. From 1999 to 2007, he also served as the inaugural director of the Leslie Center for the Humanities. Jonathan was appointed the Leon D. Black Professor of Shakespearian Studies in 2008 for his distinguished record of scholarship and teaching in the field of Renaissance studies.

Jonathan was responsible for New Pelican editions of Shakespeare's Coriolanus, Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, Troilus and Cressida, Henry VIII, and the Narrative Poems (1999–2001). These were incorporated into The Complete Pelican Shakespeare in 2002. He was also the author of In the Middle of Nowhere: J.M. Coetzee in South Africa (2015), Trials of Authorship: Anterior Forms and Poetic Reconstruction from Wyatt to Shakespeare (1990), in addition to three other books and edited volumes. Alongside his books, Jonathan published more than 30 articles and presented over 40 papers.

Jonathan was described as "one of the most distinguished colleagues on our faculty" at the time of his appointment to the Leon D. Black Professorship. This follows the high praise he garnered at the time of his hire, when he was called "one of the most original literary theorists of his generation to be working with the literature of the English Renaissance."

Jonathan possessed a formidable mind with a generous spirit. Students found his teaching "exciting and demanding" and "rich and far-ranging." Outside of the classroom, Jonathan's erudition and service benefitted our community both through his long tenure as the director of the Leslie Center and through two humanities conferences, "Global Humanities, 2000" and "The Liberal Education: Dead or Alive" (2003–04). He also served as chair of the Dartmouth Editorial Board (2002–06), member and vice chair of the Committee on Priorities (1997–2000, 2004), director of the graduate program in Comparative Literature (1996–98), chair of the Committee on Instruction (1995–97), and chair of a variety of search committees in English, theater, and Spanish and Portuguese.

When Jonathan was recruited to Dartmouth as a senior scholar of Renaissance literature, literary critic Stanley Fish recommended him by stating, "in every aspect of department life—as a teacher, as a committee member, as an adviser, as a cohering presence—he is the kind of person who is quickly regarded as indispensable." In his 25 years at Dartmouth (1990–2015), Jonathan lived up to the reputation that preceded him.

Jonathan is survived by his partner, Melissa Zeiger, associate professor of English and creative writing at Dartmouth; his brothers, Adrian Crewe and Robin Crewe; his former wife, Katherine Crewe; his son, James Crewe, and his daughter, Jessica Crewe.