Ray Lorenzo Heffner, the 13th president of Brown University passed away last week at Lantern Park Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Coralville, Iowa, announced the university Tuesday.
Heffner was 87. He served in the Brown University for a short span before he voluntarily sought to quit the president's office.
However, Heffner continued teaching until recently. He stopped offering courses owing to his ill health.
Brown President condoled the passing of Heffner, saying that he brought in a flurry of developments during his tenure in the university for which it's famous today.
"President Heffner led this University with quiet grace during a tumultuous time in American higher education," said Brown President Christina Paxson in a press release. "His tenure saw the development of many elements that define Brown as we know it today, including the signature Brown Curriculum."
Heffner, from Durham, N.C., had a successful teaching career for 42-years. He earned his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from the Yale University. He also served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
He began his teaching career in the department of English at Indiana University where he taught from 1954 to 1966. He held a number of academic administrative positions during his lifetime, including vice president and dean of faculties at Indiana University, provost at The University of Iowa, and president of Brown.
He joined the Brown in 1966 and served as the president for two years before he resigned saying, "I have simply reached the conclusion that I do not enjoy being a University president.".
After quitting Brown, he returned to the University of Iowa as professor of English and provost.
After his retirement from the University of Iowa in 1996, Heffner became a volunteer teacher at the Johnson County Senior Center in Iowa City, where he offered three or four courses s each year from Greek, Medieval and Renaissance literature to Nigerian novels and James Joyce's Ulysses. He stopped teaching last April owing to his ill health.
