Remembering Professor Gordon Hirsch

Professor Emeritus Gordon Hirsch died in St. Paul on October 7 at age 81. A Victorian scholar, he was an English department faculty member for 45 years, from 1970 until his retirement in 2015. “He was a man of dignity, honesty, and humility,” says Professor Timothy Brennan. “I will miss him as a person who brought warmth and intellectual affection to the ‘business’ of higher education.” 

Recipient of the highest undergraduate teaching honor at the University, the Morse-Alumni Award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education, Hirsch not only offered guidance in exploring lengthy Victorian novels but led legions of students through Shakespeare’s plays. “He was always open to new ideas about what and how to teach literature,” says Professor Emerita Toni McNaron. In an interview upon his retirement, Hirsch noted that when he began teaching, Shakespearean tragedy was understood as depicting a structured world where disorder had to be eradicated. "And now we teach just the opposite,” he said, with a smile. “Shakespeare’s world is messy and complicated, and he, in an amazingly self-conscious way, doesn't allow the dissonances and the conflicts to disappear.”

Dedication to liberal arts education

“I remember Gordon as a kind and caring professor who taught with patience and clarity,” says former English Chair Andrew Elfenbein. Professor Emeritus and former Chair Michael Hancher recalls how his friend and colleague’s commitment to teaching was rewarded with the affection of many students, “some of whom would bring or send him gifts from across the Pacific Ocean.” 

Hirsch widened the impact of his dedication to student development first as director of Undergraduate Studies for English and then, from 1989 to 2000, as director of the Honors Program in the College of Liberal Arts, where he had “a great deal of fun” working with students, as he noted in 2015. For these efforts and others, he received the Gordon L. Starr Award for Academic Advising. He also served as associate chair in English 2003 to 2006, improving undergraduate education in the department and “making my task as chair a lot easier than it otherwise would have been,” says Hancher. 

Hirsch was instrumental too in mentoring new department faculty. “When I was an assistant professor,” says Professor Ellen Messer-Davidow, “Gordon and I taught the British Literature survey course together. It had 160 students, many of whom would rather have been somewhere else, and five graduate TAs who needed coaching. Gordon was extremely gracious, attending all my lectures, reinforcing callouts of disruptive behavior, and never criticizing me or the young TAs if we flubbed a bit. But that was his trademark style: gentle and gentlemanly to the core.”

Professor Hirsch’s belief in the importance of the arts and humanities undergirded his teaching and advising. "There's a value in understanding other cultures, other historical periods, other peoples," he once said. "You can really acquire breadth and analytical ability by reading things not just from your own time and not just from people who think exactly the way you do." 

Scholarship and fellowship

As a scholar of Victorian literature, Hirsch was an international leader in the reconsideration and revaluation of Robert Louis Stevenson. He helped to found (and served on the editorial board for) The Journal of Stevenson Studies and was the co-editor of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde After One Hundred Years. His scholarly research and publications also examined the application of psychological approaches to literature, from “shame” theory to cognitive behavioral theory. 

Raised in Norwich, New York, Hirsch received his BA from Cornell University and his MA and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. “Gordon studied with Fred Crews, who was at that time an enthusiastic proponent of psychoanalysis and its applications to literature,” says Regents Professor Emerita Madelon Sprengnether. “Gordon was always happy to share insights about his research. He introduced me to a discussion group on campus and recommended a book that introduced me to the work of Jacques Lacan. He was unfailingly kind and generous, a profoundly good person.”

For over a decade, Professor Josephine Lee had an office three doors down from Hirsch on the third floor of Lind Hall. “I got to have a series of enjoyable conversations with Gordon,” she says. “On days I came in feeling particularly harried or worried, Gordon’s friendly greeting and genuine smile was always a good reason to start to feel otherwise. His accomplishments were considerable, but these small moments also meant a lot to me.”

“Gordon was one of the kindest human beings I have ever met,” says Professor John Watkins. “Wise, respectful of a range of opinions, and always the one to see the silver lining of every cloud.”

“I’m not the only person who has many reasons to be grateful for Gordon’s friendship, for his help, and for his insight,” says Professor Hancher. “We miss him very much.”

Professor Hirsch is survived by his wife Louella Hirsch. Tributes are welcome at Hodroff-Epstein Memorial Chapel. The Department of English offers deepest condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues.