Samuel Wilfred "Will" Hahn Ph.D.

News Death Notice

HAHN, Dr. S. Wilfred "Will" Wittenberg mathematics professor and Navy veteran, died Thursday, July 31, 2008 at Westminster Village Retirement Community in Muncie, Indiana. He was 87. Dr. Hahn, the son of Rev. Samuel Waightstill Hahn and Doris (Becker) Hahn, was born in Columbia, South Carolina on March 21, 1921. As a child he lived in Burke's Garden, Virginia and in Prosperity, North Carolina, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Entering Lenoir-Rhyne College at age 16, Hahn lettered in tennis, was active in campus religious organizations, and sang in quartets and the school's a cappella choir. He graduated from Lenoir-Rhyne at 20 as president of the student body, with a major in history and a minor in English. In June of 1941 Hahn entered Duke University as a graduate student in mathematics. By Christmas he had completed his master's thesis and been inducted into Duke's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. Further graduate work was interrupted for four years by World War II. Hahn joined the Navy in the spring of 1942, a few weeks before his 21st birthday, as an Ensign, USNR. After a year as math instructor at the Naval Reserve Air Station in Atlanta, Georgia, he volunteered for anti-submarine-warfare training and was assigned to a new destroyer-escort, the USS Cofer. Retooled after just one mission to Europe, the Cofer-now a high-speed troop transport-was sent to the South Pacific, where it delivered soldiers and landing craft to key battles with the Japanese. For distinguished service in combat at Leyte Gulf in the Philippines in December 1944, Hahn was awarded the Bronze Star. (After the war, he remained part-time in the Navy Reserves, serving most notably as Commanding Officer of a six-week summer program for seamen at the U.S. Naval Station in Green Cove Springs, Florida. When he retired from the reserves in the 1960s, he left with 20 years of service and the rank of Commander, USNR.) At war's end, in the spring oof 1946 Hahn returned to Duke to complete his PhD. There he met Martha Anne (Marty) Strowd, a 23-year-old graduate student in the department of English. They were married in Henderson, North Carolina on June 24, 1947. Six months later, Hahn defended his doctoral dissertation and joined the faculty at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor as Instructor of mathematics. In subsequent appointments, Hahn became Assistant Professor in the mathematics department at Wittenberg College (1949-51), then Professor and Head of the department of mathematics at Winthrop College in South Carolina (1951-59), and Professor of mathematics at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia (1959-60). In 1960 Dr. Hahn returned to Wittenberg as Professor of mathematics. For the next 23 years, he taught math and served regular terms as Chairman of his department. For a time, he was Associate Dean of the College; in other roles, he was a dependable member and chairman of many campus committees. Late in his career, for the breadth of his services to the college, he received the Class of 1914 prize. Outside Wittenberg, Hahn held national offices with the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) and served as Chairman of its Ohio Section. For many years he was an active participant in the National Science Foundation's program of summer seminars for mathematicians. Dr. Hahn was the first Ohio mathematician to receive the MAA Certificate for Distinguished Service. After retiring in 1983, Dr. Hahn (who, with his wife, loved to travel) accepted one-year appointments to teach at Wake Forest University in North Carolina (1983-84), Washington and Lee University in Virginia (1984-85), the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City (1985-86), and California Lutheran College in Thousand Oaks (1986-87). From 1987, the Hahns remained in Springfield-hosting and visiting friends, corresponding with former students and colleagues, traveling South periodically to care for ailing relatives, attending symphony concerts near and far. Always they remained active members of First Lutheran Church, where Dr. Hahn sang tenor in the choir into his 80s and periodically served on the church council. In May 2002, Dr. Hahn's beloved wife, Marty, former librarian of South High School, died in Springfield after a long illness. Five years later he suffered a stroke and moved to Westminster Village in Muncie, Indiana. He is survived by three children, Stephen (wife Anne) Hahn of Baltimore, Maryland, Dale (wife Beth) Hahn of Muncie, Indiana, and Carol (husband David) Cooper of Cincinnati, Ohio; and five grandchildren, Hilary Hahn, Leslie and Laura Hahn, and Andrea and Jamie Cooper. A memorial service will be held at First Lutheran Church on Saturday, August 9, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. with Pastor James Christian officiating, preceded by a prelude by organist Shirley Tennant and violinist Hilary Hahn. The family will receive friends after the service. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to First Lutheran Church, 30 South Wittenberg Avenue, P.O. Box 1383, Springfield, Ohio 45502; or to The Wittenberg Fund, Wittenberg University, P.O. Box 720, Springfield, Ohio 45501. You may express condolences to the family at www.littletonandrue.com.