Michael Cummings, Community Editor
cummings@grinnell.edu

The College is mourning the loss of a fourth faculty member this academic year, as Professor Emeritus Victor Verrette, French, passed away on Monday, April 18. Verrette was 84 years old.

“Vic Verrette was truly a groundbreaker,” wrote Professor Jan Gross, French, in an email to the S&B. “In so many ways, he paved the way for what the French Department (now with Arabic) has become today.”

He is perhaps best remembered as one of the founders of the Grinnell-in-London program, which he started in 1974, with the intention of using the significant cultural and educational resources of London to create a Grinnellian microcosm for off-campus study.

“[H]is desire for making change ‘happen’ led to many enduring initiatives of what we now call ‘Global Grinnell.’  The importance of making study abroad available to all students, regardless of major or coursework, led Vic to shape the Grinnell-in-London program and design a Grinnell-in-France program in Tours that opened up study abroad to more students than ever before ” Gross wrote.

Verrette is survived by his wife and three children, two of whom are alumni of the College. A memorial service and visitation will be held in his honor on Saturday, May 21, at the Carman Center of the Mayflower Community Center at 10 a.m.