Former history professor William C. Dennis, whose spirit of adventure saw him climb mountains from an early age and rappel from the top of Fellows Hall to the delight of students, died Nov. 10, 2023, at 82.
Dennis spent 16 years on campus, engaging students in colonial American history, sparking thoughtful political debate, and recruiting faculty, alumni, and students for his mountain-climbing trips. He was beloved by students and remained close friends with some after leaving Denison in 1984.
“Bill lit a fire in them,” says former psychology professor Allen Parchem. “I think that’s his greatest Denison legacy.”
A Richmond, Indiana native, Dennis studied history at Earlham College before earning his doctorate in American history at Yale University. On his drives from Indiana, to Connecticut, he occasionally stopped in Granville, Ohio, convinced he would teach at Denison. When a position in the history department opened, he neither called ahead nor sent an application.
“Bill drove to Denison and said, ‘I want the job,’” recalls Amy Gordon, an emerita professor of history, who arrived on campus in 1968, the same year as Dennis.
Dennis had little use for textbooks. He obtained copies of historical documents and letters exchanged between Founding Fathers to ensure his students were getting accurate accounts.
The son of U.S. Congressman David Dennis, he enjoyed talking politics. A conservative at heart, Dennis was a deep thinker, who challenged his liberal colleagues, but never in a disrespectful manner. He later served in the U.S. Department of the Interior during the Reagan administration, and worked 16 years for the Liberty Fund, a non-profit organization that promoted libertarian ideals.
His other passion was climbing. He demonstrated his superior skill on campus by rappelling from his fourth-floor Fellows Hall office window.
“My dad was a humble guy, but when it came to feats like that he enjoyed being a bit of a showman,” his son, Will, recalls.
Dennis gained publicity in the 1970s when a team of Denison professors and alumni scaled Mount Denison, the tallest peak in Alaska’s Katmai National Monument, and named in honor of the university by 1909 graduate Kirtley Mather. The first climb fell short due to inclement weather, but Dennis became the first man ever to reach Mount Denison’s summit 10 months later in 1978.
Dennis owned property in Montana and kept logs of his long hikes. For more than a decade, he walked at least two miles a day, a streak that appeared over when hospitalized for a broken rib and punctured lung.
“He wouldn’t be denied,” his daughter, Jesse, says. “He just did laps around the hospital corridors with nurses at his side.”