Laurin Henry

1921 - 2025

Laurin Henry

May 23, 1921 - April 11, 2025

Laurin L. Henry, 103, a teacher, writer, and academic administrator in the field of government and foreign affairs, died in Charlottesville, VA on April 11, 2025.

A longtime resident at University Village, he was predeceased by his wife of 70 years, Jane K. Henry (2016). He is survived by daughter, Stephanie J. Henry of Boston MA, daughter, Robin H. Greenwood and husband, John Longley of Charlottesville, and grandson, Owen W. Greenwood of Asheville NC.

Laurin was born May 23, 1921, in Kankakee County, IL, to Laurier L. and Jeanette Wagner Henry. Both his grandfathers were farmers active in local affairs. He grew up in the tiny village of Buckingham, where his mother was a music teacher and his father managed a country bank that failed in the Great Depression. The family expectation of public service and his youthful experience of hard times would be strong influences on his life.

Laurin graduated from DePauw University at Greencastle IND in 1942. During World War ll he joined the Navy as an enlisted personnel specialist. He married Jane in 1946, Post-war study in Political Science at the University of Chicago which led to the M.A. in 1948 and the Ph.D. In 1960.

His early professional career was with Washington DC think tanks. At the Brookings Institution he wrote his best-known publication, "Presidential Transitions" (1960), the first serious examination of disruption in the government and dangers to the nation when a new president and administration come into office. Published during the Eisenhower to Kennedy transition, the book got widespread attention, including a front-page book review in "The New York Times". It also opened up the field of transition studies for many later scholars.

In 1964 Laurin became Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs at the University of Virginia. At UVA he organized a new graduate program in public administration. Reflecting his strong belief that teachers and government practioners can learn much from each other, he invited government officials into his classes, and for 10 years directed a program that brought mid-level federal officials for a year's graduate study at UVA. He helped bring the Federal Executive Institute to Charlottesville and served as a liaison with the university.

In 1978, he became Dean of the School of Community's and Public Affairs at VCU in Richmond. There he built up graduate programs, including a doctorate in public affairs, fostering involvement of faculty with the state and local governments.

He was a longtime member of the American Society for Public Administration and a founding member and second president of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration. Laurin retired from VCU in 1987. Returning to Charlottesville, he was a guest scholar at the Weldon Cooper Center and a frequent contributor to the early programs of the Miller Center.

While leading a more visible academic life, Laurin also had a quiet "second life" on his farm at Mustoe VA, in the mountains of Highland County. Here he tended cattle, renovated a farmstead, and put in many happy hours on his tractor mowing pastures. This retreat to an unspoiled rural world gave relief from the tensions of academia and put him in touch with country life reminiscent of his boyhood in Illinois. In Laurin's later years he wrote personal memoirs, the family history, and participated in the governance of University Village.

Laurin was kind, modest, and frugal. Always the voice of reason, his passing leaves a very large hole in his small family, the University Village community, and the professional world he continued to be a part of.

A service for Laurin will be held at a later date.

Condolences can be made on the tribute wall at www.hillandwood.com.

Hill & Wood Funeral Home - Charlottesville

201 1st Street N Charlottesville, VA 22902