Hope College professor John T. Quinn died Thursday (June 19) while running near the campus during the noon hour.
Dr. Quinn, an associate professor of classics who had been a member of the faculty since 1995, was pronounced dead at Holland Hospital where he was taken by emergency responders. Dr. Quinn had apparently been running alone when he collapsed near 14th Street and Lincoln Avenue at approximately 1 p.m. He was 45.
"John Quinn was a respected colleague and friend. His passion was teaching in the Classics. This he did well and with great enthusiasm. John was a faithful servant, beloved especially by his students and the campus community," said President James E. Bultman.
Dr. Quinn taught Latin as well as the two major languages of Roman Egypt: Greek and Coptic (Egyptian). His research interests included the translation of ancient texts. He took his students on study tours to Greece and in 2004 led an alumni tour that explored Italy's Roman past. During his career he was supported in his research by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the U.S. Department of Education, the Fulbright-Hayes Group Study Abroad in Ethiopia and Eritrea, and the Consortium for Inter-Institutional Collaboration in African and Latin American Studies.
He received the B.A. from the University of Notre Dame (1984) and the M.A. (1986) and Ph.D. (1994) degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.
Dr. Quinn lived in Holland. He is survived by family in the Chicago area.
There will be a wake on Monday, June 23, at the Ryan-Parke Funeral Home in Park Ridge, Ill. from 3-9 p.m. The funeral mass will be held Tuesday, June 24, at 10 a.m. at the Mary Seat of Wisdom Parish Park Ridge, Ill.
A memorial service will be held on the campus of Hope College on Sunday, Sept. 7 in Dimnent Memorial Chapel beginning at 3 p.m. ET. A reception will follow in the atrium of the A. Paul Schaap Science Center.