In Memoriam Edward Louis Keenan Jr.

Abstract

On Friday, September 25, 2015, in Memorial Church at Harvard University, a memorial service was held to celebrate the life and career of Professor Edward L. Keenan Jr., Andrew W. Mellon Professor of History, Emeritus, who passed away on March 6, 2015. The memorial service gathered together hundreds – family members, former colleagues and students, and countless friends. The eight speakers at this memorial described Edward (Ned) Keenan’s influence on them, but also his inestimable impact on the field of Russian history; and his widow provided a window into his thinking about the many roles he played over the course of a diverse and significant career that spanned four decades. The memorial service marked a sad moment in the field of Russian studies, and the words offered at it are important for understanding how the field of Russian history in the United States grew and was transformed in the last quarter of the twentieth century.