Former Oxford College Dean Dana Greene (71G), who was the first woman to hold the position, died on Dec. 29, 2023, in her home at 81 years old. She is survived by her husband of 55 years, Richard Roesel (69L), and four daughters: Kristin, Justin, Lauren and Ryan.
Greene was born on May 20, 1942 in Port Monmouth, N.J. At her memorial mass, held on Jan. 3 at the Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Alexandria, Va., Greene’s daughter, Lauren Greene-Roesel, read a prayer Roesel wrote in honor of her mother.
“Continue to inspire us with your love of the spiritual, the source of all life, with your constancy, grace, compassion, inspiration and guidance of our daughters in imagining the fullness of what a woman can be, and immediate attention to the needs of the moment,” Greene-Roesel read.
Dana Greene (71G), the first woman to serve as Oxford College’s dean, died on Dec. 29, 2023. (Courtesy of Emory University)
Academic journey
After earning a bachelor’s degree in history at the College of New Rochelle (N.Y.), Greene served in the Peace Corps in Tilaran, Costa Rica, an Israeli kibbutz and rural Spain. Greene later received her master’s degree in history from Northern Illinois University and completed a Ph.D. in humanities at Emory University’s Laney Graduate School.
Roesel noted that despite misguided perceptions of women in higher education in the 1960s, Greene raised awareness of gender inequality and discussed issues such as the lack of female mentors in Emory’s faculty. As a graduate student, Greene formed a women’s liberation group that successfully pushed Emory to grant more scholarships and fellowships to women.
For almost three decades, Greene served as associate provost for faculty affairs and a history faculty member at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. She dedicated her research to exploring the intersection of religion and creativity in women’s lives, writing biographies on the lives of abolitionist Lucretia Mott, suffragist Olympia Brown, writers Evelyn Underhill and Maisie Ward and poets Denise Levertov, Elizabeth Jennings and Jane Kenyon.
“She was always fascinated with the excavation of women’s lives and really getting to know them in their own right rather than through the filter of men’s perceptions,” Roesel said.
Personal life
Greene and Roesel met at church services while attending Emory. They got married in 1968.
Roesel described his wife as a “wonderfully complex and gifted woman.” He saw her not only as an organized academic administrator, but also a kind friend who put effort into staying in touch with people. Roesel explained that Greene knew everyone’s birthdays and anniversaries, and she constantly sent notes to people. She sent about 250 Christmas cards to her friends this past holiday season.
“She had just this huge, huge group of people that she remained in contact with,” Roesel said. “It wasn’t just contact — she was aware of what was happening in their lives.”
Greene and her husband walked together every day, which Roesel called a cornerstone of their marriage.
“That brought us a level of closeness that many marital couples don’t get because you don’t really spend a lot of time in conversational sharing,” Roesel said. “They’re too busy with other things, but with us, conversation was always central to our marriage.”
As the former executive director of Emory’s Aquinas Center of Theology, Greene’s Catholic faith was very important to her, according to Roesel. She began each day by reciting a prayer for 30 to 40 people. Greene also engaged in activist Catholic journalism, writing articles for the National Catholic Reporter.
One of Greene’s favorite pastimes was to travel. She visited 36 countries throughout her life, Roesel said. Greene urged her daughters to travel the world and ensured they had goals beyond simply getting married and being mothers.
When Greene and Roesel got married, Greene insisted on keeping her last name, Roesel said. Greene’s determination to recognize “the fullness of being a woman” is among Roesel’s happiest memories of her.
“That’s the kind of initiative Dana took well before it was perceived as something a respectable woman would do, to maintain her own identity after marriage,” Roesel said.
Roesel added that Greene had a love for poetry and visiting museums, noting that she possessed an “avid intellectual curiosity.” He recalled that in the last few years, he and Greene would spend an hour-and-a-half every evening watching The Great Courses, a series of online courses taught by award-winning experts. They especially enjoyed watching history courses, as Greene appreciated learning more about the world.
“We had a very, very happy marriage,” Roesel said. “It may be an exaggeration to say I enjoyed every minute, but I certainly enjoyed almost every minute of it. She just was a wonderful person to be with.”
Legacy at Oxford
Greene became the first female dean of Oxford College in 1999, and she served in the role for six years. Roesel commended Greene’s commitment to serving others, and Oxford Dean Badia Ahad said Greene placed great importance on social justice. LGBTQ+ couples were not allowed to get married in Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church on Emory’s Atlanta campus during Greene’s tenure as dean, but she advocated for gay marriage to be recognized even when the law did not permit it, according to Roesel. Additionally, Greene championed a local effort to recover African American graves at the Oxford Cemetery.
“[Her Catholic faith] really inspired her to really be invested and committed to social justice, advancing the social good and really demonstrating an ethic of care for others,” Ahad said.
Pierce Program in Religion Director David Gowler said that Greene was an “outstanding administrator and visionary.”
“Dean Greene really began the renaissance of Oxford within Emory, beginning the transformation that is so evident today,” Gowler said.
Former Oxford Dean of Campus Life Joseph Moon worked closely with Greene but said he was still taken aback to see the “breadth of her life” outside Emory. He described her as very intelligent, a terrific orator and gifted writer. He admired her role as “a steady hand” in the days after 9/11. While he said it was a difficult time for everyone, Moon remembered that Greene helped the Oxford community move forward by offering support resources and continuing classes.
Shortly after assuming the role, Greene hired Charles Howard Candler Professor of History Susan Ashmore in 2000. Ashmore said Greene would meet with untenured faculty regularly, noting that Greene not only nurtured new faculty but also guided the direction of Oxford.
“She just had a way about her that respected your integrity as well as your position and what you could do for the students and for the college as a whole,” Ashmore said.
Ashmore elaborated that Greene urged Ashmore to attend Southern Historical Association meetings and publish her work, which Ashmore said was especially meaningful to her as a new professor.
Greene also supported Ahad, who expressed gratitude to the former dean and shared that Greene wrote her a “lovely note” upon her appointment to the role in May 2023.
Oxford established the Pierce Program in Religion in 2020 to celebrate Greene’s impact on campus. The University also started the Dana Greene Distinguished Lecture Series, which aims to bring notable leaders who exemplify and encourage intellectual discovery and creativity to Oxford. Greene gave the first speech in the lecture series, Gowler said. He noted that Greene personally inspired him, leaving him feeling greatly indebted to the former dean.
“We focus on social justice issues as part of our initiatives,” Gowler said. “I thought that Dana Greene would be the perfect person to name a lecture series to that effect in her honor and now her memory.”
Ahad said she believes Greene’s legacy is still alive at Oxford and in the people she inspired throughout her life.
“She really wanted to use her platform in higher education to make the world a better place, and I think that’s why we’re all here at the end of the day,” Ahad said.
Memorial services in Greene’s honor will be held at Mt. Vernon Unitarian Church in Alexandria, Va. the weekend of Feb. 17.
News Editor Spencer Friedland (26C) contributed reporting.
Lauren Yee (25Ox) is a news editor at The Emory Wheel. She is from Hong Kong and is majoring in religion. Outside of the Wheel, Yee serves on the boards of the Phi Gamma Literary Society and the Oxford Ensemble of Shakespearean Artists. In her free time, you can find her playing the saxophone, watching musicals or enjoying an iced oat milk matcha!
