Barry Scherr, professor emeritus of Russian language and literature, died on Sept. 12 at the Jack Byrne Center for Palliative and Hospice Care in Lebanon, N.H., with his loving family by his side. He was 79.
"One of the foremost authorities on Russian poetics and versification, Barry was a legendary professor, colleague, and administrator known as much for his incisive and wide-ranging scholarly interests as for his generosity of spirit," Dean Elizabeth F. Smith said in a message to the Arts and Sciences community. "Generations of students and colleagues at Dartmouth and around the world found inspiration in his generous leadership and mentorship, and he will be dearly missed."
Scherr grew up in Enfield, Conn., where he helped out on his family's poultry farm. He went to public schools through ninth grade, then received a scholarship to Suffield Academy, from which he graduated in 1963. He entered Harvard as a sophomore, intending to major in a science discipline, and started learning Russian because the language was considered useful for scientists. At that time, Harvard was home to several distinguished Russian scholars, including linguist Roman Jakobson—and unexpectedly, Scherr discovered his passion for Russian literature.
After graduating from Harvard in 1966 as a Slavic languages and literatures major, Scherr headed to the University of Chicago to pursue his PhD. During the 1969-70 academic year, he conducted research for his dissertation on the writer Alexander Grin in what was then the Soviet Union, the first of many trips to the region that included leading foreign study programs for college students. From 1970-74 he taught at the University of Washington before joining the Dartmouth faculty in the summer of 1974.
At Dartmouth, Scherr primarily taught 19th and 20th century Russian fiction, comparative literature, and Russian film. He also co-led the creation of a three-way exchange program between Moscow State University and the Russian and environmental studies departments, and he led the first Dartmouth student group to Moscow. He was promoted to associate professor in 1977 and full professor in 1983.
Scherr's 1986 book, Russian Poetry: Meter, Rhythm, and Rhyme, covered the entire Russian verse tradition and catapulted him to the forefront of scholarship on Russian poetics.
"In Russian versification, Barry was considered by his peer colleagues in Russia to be 'one of their own,'" Professor Emeritus of Russian and Comparative Literature John Kopper recalls. "I can think of only a handful of American Russianists who commanded this level of professional respect in Russia."
As a scholar, Scherr was deeply engaged by questions of verse within the Russian tradition and from a comparative perspective. He was also known for his thoughtful investigations of early 20th century Russian literature, translation, Russian-Jewish writers, and film, with articles in academic publications including Slavic Review, the Slavic and East European Journal, and the International Journal of Slavic Linguistics and Poetics. Among his many publications, he co-edited the essay collection Eisenstein at 100: A Reconsideration with the late professor emeritus of film and media studies Al LaValley.
Scherr served as chair of his professional association, the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages, for several years and he also served on the editorial board of the Slavic and East European Journal.
All the while, Scherr was a widely admired leader at Dartmouth. He served as provost for eight years, from 2001 to 2009, and was especially effective in championing the arts and humanities. Brian Kennedy, director of the Hood Museum of Art during that time, recalls Scherr's constant support and enthusiasm.
"He loved the arts, and on many occasions I appreciated his dancing eyes, his face in a smile, ready to laugh heartily," Kennedy says. "He reveled in an exciting idea, ever curious, and was prepared to take risks—notably supporting the Hood's display of Chinese artist Wenda Gu's eighty-by-thirteen-foot screen, 'The Green House', in the Dartmouth Library corridors, made from hair gathered from thousands of haircuts of people in the Dartmouth and regional communities. Of course Barry, and his great friend, Dartmouth President Jim Wright, contributed some of theirs too!"
Together with Kennedy and Jon Cohen, former chairman of the Hood, Scherr helped raise $50 million for the museum.
Susan DeBevoise Wright, who served as executive director of the Montgomery Fellows program during her tenure as Dartmouth's first lady, remembers collaborating with Scherr when he led a faculty ad hoc committee in the selection of fellows.
"He enriched students' learning outside of the classroom by enabling them to meet informally at Montgomery House with celebrated writers, artists, scientists, and government and military officials, such as Edward Albee, Joan Didion, Merce Cunningham, and—to Barry's utmost delight—Roz Chast," she says. "Barry's vastly capacious intellect was rivaled only by his sense of humor."
Scherr served as associate dean for the humanities from 1997 to 2001, when his planning and fundraising efforts enabled Dartmouth to found the Leslie Center for the Humanities. He also served as chair of the Russian department for several years, beginning in 1981, and on numerous committees. In these myriad roles he earned genuine respect from colleagues across Dartmouth for his diligence, equanimity, and kindness.
"As a department administrator and dean, he was completely devoid of personal animus, blind to prejudice, and capable of refereeing any dispute impartially—a rock of judiciousness," Kopper says.
"I always felt he treated everyone with respect and kindness no matter your position at Dartmouth," says Carol Bean-Carmody, administrative assistant in the Comparative Literature Program. Awed by his vast knowledge, she recalls his studious organization of the hundreds of books in the Russian seminar room.
Following his retirement from Dartmouth in 2012, Scherr continued to research and write until his illness prevented him from doing so. He also taught courses through Dartmouth's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Scherr remained so active professionally as he entered retirement that when Kopper and a colleague set out to create a festschrift, they weren't sure when to time the publication.
"For the bibliography we eventually set an artificial cutoff date of 2015, three years after his retirement, with many works left off that were still in progress on Barry's desk," Kopper says.
The resulting volume, "A Convenient Territory:" Russian Literature at the Edge of Modernity Essays in Honor of Barry Scherr, includes contributions from many colleagues at other universities whom Scherr had mentored, as well as alums of the Russian department who had become academics across the country. "For a humanities department like ours—and a small department at that—Dartmouth Russian produced an impressive number of future PhDs during Barry's tenure," Kopper says.
In addition to mentoring junior colleagues and emerging scholars across the country, Scherr stayed in touch with several of his students over many decades. He corresponded with former students regularly and was cherished for his positive, soft-spoken mentorship.
In a 2020 Q&A in the Slavic and East European Blog with Ainsley Morse, associate professor of East European, Eurasian, and Russian studies, Scherr reflected on his education, career, and advice for young scholars.
"I guess my final bit of advice would be not to be too intimidated by all that's out there now," he said. "It might be that there's so much out there it's hard not to be intimidated, but in terms of the scholarship and everything else, just pick and choose, work your way through it and you can get there."
Scherr and his wife, Sylvia, lived in Norwich for nearly 50 years, where he tended flower, vegetable, and herb gardens, and enjoyed observing the hummingbirds that came to his feeder. He also took great pleasure in spending time with his children, David and Sonia, who inherited his love of literature and learning.
Alfia Rakova, director of the Russian Language Program, remembers meeting Scherr at her job interview in the cold January of 2007. "I immediately felt the warmth of the Russian department, professors, and students," she says. "In his soft-spoken voice he expressed so much knowledge and love about the Russian language and literature that I thought how wonderful it would be to teach at Dartmouth."
The family will hold a private funeral service at the Roth Center, which Scherr helped create as president of the Upper Valley Jewish Community from 1991-94. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Jack Byrne Center for Palliative and Hospice Care, the Dartmouth College Fund in support of financial aid for undergraduates, or a charity of one's choice.
The Dartmouth flag will be lowered on Thursday, Sept. 26, and Friday, Sept. 27, in Scherr's honor.
