A Tribute to Professor Tim Hennessey

From MAF Dept. Chair, Rob Thompson

On October 8th, Professor Emeritus Tim Hennessey died unexpectedly. While Tim’s primary appointment was in Political Science, he had a joint appointment in Marine Affairs and he made great contributions to the Department of Marine Affairs and the field of Marine Affairs. When writing on issues of coastal management, large marine ecosystems, estuary governance, and fisheries management, Tim stressed the need for academics and practitioners alike to appreciate the complexity of the pertinent governance issues and the intricacies of policy processes. Tim was a great team player who always could be counted on for that one insight that helped unravel a complex question. Tim published many articles and book chapters individually and as a co-author with URI faculty and faculty at other universities.

For MAF students, Tim was a gifted teacher and a highly valued advisor. He served on many Master and Ph.D. committees. In doing so, Tim enriched the lives of generations of Marine Affairs students. Tim had the ability to gently push students to think more deeply about their chosen topic and, as a result, to develop better questions that ultimately led to a better analysis and a better final product.

Most importantly, however, Tim was quite simply a really good guy and an excellent colleague. Even as he grew older, Tim still enjoyed competitive sports and he was the department’s undisputed squash champion. As Dennis Nixon explained, Tim’s “guile and smooth technique confounded my (former) youth and vigor.” I have no doubt that Tim was always super nice about winning, because Tim was super nice about everything. Tim was an excellent storyteller, which made him a great guy with whom to carpool. Tim also had the ability to keep faculty meetings lively, entertaining, and civil, which is perhaps the ultimate challenge.  After his retirement, Tim still frequently ate lunch at the University Club and running into him there always resulted in an enjoyable conversation. Tim will be missed as a scholar, mentor, colleague, and friend.