All Scholars
NYE, Irene
- Date of Birth: November 13, 1875
- Born City: Eureka
- Born State/Country: KS
- Parents: Ira Palmer and Esther Chesebrough N.
- Date of Death: September 17, 1966
- Death City: Oklahoma City
- Death State/Country: OK
- Education:
A.B., Washburn College (now Washburn University)., 1895, L.H.D., 1930; Ph.D., Yale, 1911.
- Dissertation:
“Sentence Connection, Chiefly Illustrated from Livy” (Yale, 1911).
- Professional Experience:
Teacher Latin and Greek, Southern Kansas Academy, 1895-1901; instr. Latin and history, Washburn College, 1905-08; scholar in classics, 1908-09, fellow, 1909-11, Yale; prof. Latin, Washburn College, 1911-12; asst. prof. Greek and Latin, Connecticut College for Women, 1912-15; asso. prof., 1915-16; prof., 1916-40; dean of faculty, 1917-40.
- Publications:
“When Homer Smiles,” CJ 33 (1937) 25-37; “Modern Greek Tragedy,” TAPA 69 (1938) xlvii; “Some facts concerning the study of Latin in the United States of America,” Per lo Studio e L'Uso del Latino 1 (1939) 126-32.
- Notes:
Irene Nye came from a Mayflower family and William Cheeseborough, the first English settler in Stonington, Connecticut. She attended the Congregationalist Washburn College in Topeka, After teaching at the secondary level she was hired by her alma mater as an instructor. At length this daughter of Connecticut chose Yale for her doctoral studies, after which she returned briefly to Washburn before moving to the Connecticut College for Women. She rose quickly to full professor and was named dean of the faculty, a position she held for over 22 years. She wrote about the study of classics in America and was an active member of classics organizations from the APA, CAMWS, to the ACL and local organizations.
Her students wrote of her in the 1925 Connecticut College yearbook: "Dignity and charm--this happy combination stands for Dean Nye, our friend and advisor for three years. If we needed help, she helped us; if we needed her encouragement, she encouraged us. As Freshmen we admired her; as Sophomores we loved her; as Juniors we worshiped her; as Seniors demised her. We were happy that she was enjoying her extensive tour of foreign countries, but we certainly missed her pleasing smile, her warm sympathy, her sound advice."
She retired in 1940 and moved back to Topeka, then to Oklahoma City, where she died at the age of 91.
- Sources:
Who Was Who in America 5 (1969-73) Who’s Who of American Women (1958-9) s.v.; Woman’s Who’s Who of America, s.v.
- Author: Ward Briggs
