Apply

UHart Remembers Renwick "Wick" Griswold

January 27, 2023
Submitted By: Office of Marketing and Communication
Professor Wick

Retired Associate Professor Renwick Griswold, a pillar within the University of Hartford as both an alumnus and decades-long faculty member, died Jan. 21.

Affectionately known on campus as “Gris” or “Wick,” Griswold capped off his higher education career in December 2018 after teaching sociology at Hillyer College since the 1980s. He earned his undergraduate degree in 1973, and his master’s in 1990, but even long before that, his family members taught at UHart. He also received emeritus status upon retiring.

Fellow Hillyer Professor Woody Doane, a close friend of Griswold’s on campus and in retirement, said “Wick” had an irrepressible spirit and will always be remembered for his unique greeting—he would exclaim, “Roarrrr!” with both hands raised above his head.

“As a teacher, I think we all like to think we have an impact on our students—and that you were somebody’s favorite,” Doane says. “But Wick was transformational in so many lives. Former students say, ‘He changed my life,’ not just, ‘He was the best professor I’ve had.’ He let them see a whole other way of looking at the world.”

Griswold had a distinct teaching style, incorporating real-world connections and off-campus projects into his courses before service and experiential learning became a higher education mainstay. He brought his students to clean up the Connecticut River each year, taught classes from a canoe while traveling down the Connecticut River, brought a group to New Orleans to help others after Hurricane Katrina, connected UHart students with a Hartford schools tutoring program, and empowered others to make a difference in their community and the world.

It wasn’t unusual to find students who decided to major in sociology after taking one of Griswold’s courses. It was also likely not a surprise for many to see him posing in the inaugural issue of H magazine in 2018 in a pirate costume, a nod to his research of pirates, travelers on Long Island Sound and the Connecticut River, and historical facts and myths.

His passion for the environment also prompted him to monitor piping plovers and least terns, vulnerable species of birds who inhabit beaches in Connecticut and nest near the mouth of the Connecticut River, where Griswold lived.

His varied expertise and unbridled enthusiasm for his research transformed into books, radio broadcasts, documentaries, and collaborations with community groups. Griswold penned books including A History of the Connecticut River, Connecticut Pirates and Privateers, A History of Griswold Point, Connecticut River Shipbuilding, and Connecticut River Ferries, and created a documentary entitled “Ferryboats of the Connecticut River” to air on public broadcasting, which he hoped would advocate for the continued operation of the vessels. He retired from UHart in 2018 with plans to take on more projects like these.

“Wick's interests always engaged students. We give a loud ROAR in celebration of his work with us and his life; he will be sorely missed,” says Frances Altvater, interim dean of Hillyer College. “He was a tremendous presence in our college.”

Griswold will long be remembered at the University for his impact on students, faculty and staff. Hillyer had already been honoring faculty members with the Renwick “Wick” Griswold Award for Service to recognize faculty work outside the classroom, and countless students credit him with inspiring their career paths and service to the community.

Memorial services have not yet been finalized; updates will be provided in UNotes.