Donald Koehn

Former IWU Professor, Donald Koehn, Dies at 71

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Donald Koehn, professor of philosophy emeritus, died on July 20 in Providence, Rhode Island. He was 71.

Koehn joined the Illinois Wesleyan faculty in 1972 as assistant professor of philosophy and taught until his retirement in 1994. Prior to Illinois Wesleyan, he had taught at the University of Maine in Orono and at Southern Methodist University.

A graduate of the University of Illinois, he received a master's degree from the University of Chicago and a doctorate from the University of Illinois.

He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, the American Philosophical Association, the Society for business Ethics, and Operation Clean Government. In addition, he was a former board member of the Sierra Club and the Rhode Island Affiliate of the ACLU.

Shortly after arriving at Illinois Wesleyan, Koehn told The Argus, Illinois Wesleyan's student newspaper, that "philosophy is at the heart of today's liberal education." In that 1975 interview, he also said that "what is important is getting the student to think deeply, carefully, and more systematically than ever before."

Koehn is survived by his wife, Sally; two daughters, Nancy F. Koehn of Belmont, Mass., and Alice K. Benson of Weston, Mass.; a son, Geoffrey E. Koehn of Waltham, Mass.; a sister, Karen Tantillo of Merritt Island, Fla.; and two grandchildren.