![\"Jerry](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring2020\/files\/2020\/05\/JerryHomecoming-2018-2.jpg\")
<\/a>For more than seven decades, Gerald J. \u201cJerry\u201d Hansen Jr. \u201951, P\u201978, \u201984, \u201988, GP\u201912, \u201916, \u201920 has been famous among Bantams for his passionate commitment to Trinity. Admirers describe his devotion as an administrator and consultant for 30-plus years\u2014starting in 1975, as director of alumni and college relations and later as secretary of the college\u2014and his ongoing zeal for making connections with and among members of the Trinity community.<\/p>\n
After his 1998 retirement, when he was named secretary of the college emeritus, Jerry was a consultant for Trinity for several years. More recently, with great enthusiasm, he has continued serving the college as a volunteer.<\/p>\n
Over the years, Trinity has celebrated Jerry by naming a residence hall, a squash court, and a crew shell after him. Twice he was honored with his wife of 62 years, Georgia, who volunteered tirelessly on Trinity\u2019s behalf. Together they received the 175th Anniversary Award and The Eigenbrodt Cup, one of the college\u2019s highest honors. While, sadly, she passed away in 2014, Jerry notes with pride that she was the first woman and non-alum to be honored with the Eigenbrodt.<\/p>\n
The college plans to honor him once again on the occasion of his 70th Reunion in 2021 by presenting the inaugural Gerald J. Hansen Jr. \u201951 Alumni Employee Award. The award, established by the Trinity College Alumni Association, will be given annually to a Trinity alumna\/us employee of the college for distinguished and exemplary dedication to Trinity\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n
A FAMILY TRADITION<\/h3>\n
Born and raised in Philadelphia, the youngest of four, Jerry was the first in his family to attend college. On advice from family and a few Philadelphia alumni of Trinity and Williams, he interviewed with both colleges. He was accepted to both, and, as several of his friends planned to attend Trinity, he decided he would, too.<\/p>\n Jerry says, \u201cThe best thing you can give your kids is education,\u201d and he\u2019s delighted that a number of his children and grandchildren went to Trinity. This includes all three sons: Gerald J. \u201cTrip\u201d Hansen III, M.D. \u201978, P\u201912, Barclay Hansen \u201984, P\u201916, P\u201920 (who made the quip above about synonymous families), and Todd Hansen, M.D. \u201988. Jerry also has a daughter, Pam, who graduated from Williams.<\/p>\n Three of Jerry\u2019s 15 grandchildren also have attended Trinity: Gerald J. \u201cQuade\u201d Hansen IV, D.O. \u201912, Krista Hansen \u201916, and Garrett Hansen \u201920.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously we\u2019ve had a legacy at Trinity, and it starts with my grandfather,\u201d says Garrett. \u201cHe\u2019s always talked up Trinity and absolutely loves it. He\u2019s Mr. Trinity himself.\u201d<\/p>\n After seeing the parade of people who come to hug and catch up with Jerry at Homecoming, Garrett adds, \u201cI think when he started working here, he realized how many people he could impact. He got to interact with all of these people in a positive way, and it just fit with who he is\u2014it\u2019s what he wants to do, to help people out in life.\u201d<\/p>\n Krista says, \u201cOur joke when we\u2019re all on campus is, \u2018Do you think we\u2019ll get to speak to Pop-Pop for more than five minutes today?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n Jerry says his decision to work for Trinity \u201cchanged the life of the whole family.\u201d Realizing how much he enjoyed his role as an active alumni volunteer for years, he found himself ready to pivot away from a successful 20-year career in Philadelphia as an executive and business owner in the textile industry. \u201cI had had enough of being on the road 100 days a year,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n \u201cI said to [then-President] Ted Lockwood [\u201948], \u2018I\u2019ll work harder than anybody around here, but I\u2019m going to coach my kids\u2019 sports and I\u2019m going to see them play.\u2019 Family is it<\/em> for me,\u201d says Jerry.<\/p>\n Son Todd Hansen, M.D. \u201988, a family physician in Gastonia, North Carolina, calls the move \u201cthe smartest decision my dad ever made. It definitely improved his work-life balance. And we all grew to love Connecticut.\u201d<\/p>\n Lee Coffin \u201985, vice provost for enrollment and dean of admissions and financial aid at Dartmouth College, was a Trinity senior and Student Government Association officer when he first met Jerry, who was in Alumni Relations at the time. \u201cEven before I met him, I knew who he was,\u201d Coffin says. \u201cHe was the<\/em> cheerleader for the college. He just had that kind of presence.\u201d<\/p>\n At the time, Coffin figured that after Trinity, he\u2019d go to law school. But then Jerry posted a one-year position for someone to help \u201cbuild out class identity\u201d among undergraduates. \u201cI remember thinking, \u2018Well, that\u2019s an interesting opportunity.\u2019 I applied, and he hired me. One year turned into four, and here I am, 30-whatever years later, still a college administrator.<\/p>\n \u201cJerry was the embodiment of somebody working in an academic institution who saw a clear role of moving the institution forward,\u201d Coffin continues. \u201cHe was exceedingly fair, decent, and loyal to the people who worked with him and around him, and he had a heroic work ethic. All these years later, I find myself thinking, \u2018What would Jerry do?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n Jim Whitters \u201962, P\u201995, \u201997 was a young lawyer in Boston in 1975 when he met Jerry to discuss forming a Boston alumni club. The resulting club remains a success today, with many well-attended events.<\/p>\n \u201cJerry brought Trinity into the modern age, in terms of building a national organization of clubs,\u201d says Whitters, who served on the Board of Trustees from 1984 to 1995. \u201cHe\u2019s a great communicator and a tremendous networker. He was extremely supportive of coeducation and played a pivotal role in identifying alumni\u2014women and men\u2014who were going to emerge as leaders. He was very interactive, not just with alumni but faculty and students, too.\u201d<\/p>\n One of those students was Ray Jones \u201997, former NESCAC Football Offensive Player of the Year. Jones set numerous records on the gridiron and also was a New England Champion and All-American wrestler and a record-holding triple jumper.<\/p>\n While on campus in October 2019 for induction into the Trinity College Athletics Hall of Fame, Jones shared a story about one day when he was out on the track, ostensibly practicing but actually procrastinating on writing a sociology paper. Suddenly Jerry appeared and told him, in no uncertain terms, that he knew Jones had a paper to write and he\u2019d better get to it. \u201cIt was the right kick in the pants,\u201d said Jones, \u201c\u2026 to work hard and be better.\u201d<\/p>\n Jerry\u2019s own athletic prowess is legendary, particularly on the squash court. Before he came to work for Trinity, he won many championships in squash and tennis at Philadelphia Country Club. As a Trinity administrator, he loved to challenge members of the men\u2019s varsity squash team and others on campus to a match.<\/p>\n \u201cMy dad loved building relationships with students, faculty, parents, and alumni\u2014everybody,\u201d says Barclay, president and CEO of AquaHealth. \u201cHe was also the most competitive athlete I\u2019ve ever met. My question was always, \u2018Has any coach or faculty member beaten you in squash this year, dad?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n A relatively new Hansen family member is Madeleine \u201cMaddie\u201d Dickinson Hansen \u201914, recently married to Jerry\u2019s grandson Quade. The couple lives in Philadelphia, near where Jerry resides in Gladwyne, the town where he and Georgia first made their home.<\/p>\n Maddie is in fundraising at Penn Medicine\u2019s Abramson Cancer Center and says she and Jerry share a special bond, having both worked supporting higher education institutions. \u201cTo see the legacy he built and how others hold him in such high regard, that\u2019s something I aspire to,\u201d she says. \u201cI only hope I can be half as successful in terms of transforming a place and really leaving your mark on it.\u201d<\/p>\n Jerry points out that Maddie, who was a Posse Scholar from Chicago, is a terrific example of someone who came to the college through scholarship support.<\/p>\n \u201cI like the direction of Trinity today,\u201d Jerry says. \u201cI do feel strongly that we need to build the scholarship fund, and I know [President] Joanne [Berger-Sweeney] and her team are working on that.\u201d<\/p>\n Jerry still hears from people whose kids are in the midst of a college search, seeking advice. \u201cI tell them Trinity is a great school and give them the example of my kids,\u201d he says. \u201cYou get a great education, and that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n As Philadelphia-area residents, a father and son might catch an Eagles football game together. Or, in the case of Gerald J. \u201cTrip\u201d Hansen III, M.D. \u201978 and Gerald J. \u201cQuade\u201d Hansen IV, D.O. \u201912, they could participate in a medical service trip, providing health care for hundreds of people with limited resources.<\/p>\n Both Trip and Quade say a weeklong mission trip to the Dominican Republic in February 2019 was an incredible father-son experience and a chance to reconnect with why they went into medicine in the first place. Each morning, they rode a bus to a different area in the city of Santiago, bringing medical supplies and creating a care clinic in a church or community building. Patients lined up, and each doctor would see between 30 and 40 patients a day.<\/p>\n \u201cThey would walk and wait a long time to see us,\u201d Trip says. Many had la grippe<\/em>\u2014the flu\u2014or other respiratory illnesses. Many patients suffered from parasitic diseases. For Quade, providing prenatal care and vitamins to pregnant patients and inhalers to children with asthma were among the most satisfying aspects of their service. \u201cAsthma can be very dangerous but is also very controllable,\u201d says Quade, who also has asthma.<\/p>\n Trip and Quade are affiliated with Abington Hospital-Jefferson Health in northern suburban Philadelphia. Trip has served for 38 years as a family physician and also teaches residents and medical students, noting that his teaching style emulates that of one of his favorite professors, Craig Schneider, Charles A. Dana Professor of Biology.<\/p>\n Quade is chief resident of family medicine, completing his third year of residency. He says he decided to pursue medicine after a junior-year opportunity through Trinity\u2019s Health Fellows Program to intern at Connecticut Children\u2019s Medical Center, which included researching how H1N1 influenza affected different populations. \u201cI realized that not only does medicine provide a unique challenge every single day, but it\u2019s a tremendous way to impact someone\u2019s life on a daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n Says Trip of the experience, \u201cYou recognize the gifts you\u2019ve been given in terms of your upbringing, in terms of the country you\u2019re from, in terms of your education. This was one of the best weeks of my life, and to share it with my son was such a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n Editor\u2019s note: You\u2019ve just read about a loyal Bantam family. Do you know of another family with multiple alumni and\/or current students? Maybe you\u2019re part of one! Please let me know by emailing <\/em>sonya.adams@trincoll.edu<\/em><\/a>. I may include your submission in a future issue of the magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Patriarch Jerry Hansen \u201951 leads the way in his dedication to the college By Kathy Andrews There\u2019s the Trinity family and there\u2019s the Hansen family, but, as one Hansen asks with a laugh, \u201cThey\u2019re synonymous, aren\u2019t they?\u201d For more than seven decades, Gerald J. \u201cJerry\u201d Hansen Jr. \u201951, P\u201978, \u201984, \u201988, GP\u201912, \u201916, \u201920 has … <\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS<\/h3>\n
<\/a>A GREAT EDUCATION<\/h3>\n
<\/a>ON A MISSION<\/h3>\n
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