Home News Tribune - June 25, 1988
Rutgers arts dean dies of rare cancer
Highland Park – John I. Bettenbender, dean of the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, died yesterday of a rare form of vascular cancer at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. He was 67. With years of experience as a playwright, director and actor, Mr. Bettenbender was a major influence in establishing Rutgers as a wellspring of talent that has nurtured hundreds of aspiring theater professionals.
"He was one of the most outstanding teaches I ever had," said Maureen Heffernan, who studied with Mr. Bettenbender at the Calumet Campus of St. Joseph's College in Indiana and later, at Rutgers. Heffernan is a freelance director who spent the last year as acting artistic director at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick. "He was the mover and shaker in the development of the arts at Rutgers and New Brunswick," said Rick Khan, another former student, in a statement. Khan went on to become a founder of Crossroads heater Company in New Brunswick, where he is producing director. "For me he was an inspiring mentor. Jack was one of the main outspoken supporters of Crossroads and he will be sorely missed."
John L. Goodyear, chairman of the visual art department at Mason Gross, called Mr. Bettenbender an "open-minded, generous person." Among the 200 productions that Mr. Bettenbender directed during his career were the Rutgers and New York productions of Eric Bentley's "Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been," Kevin Patterson's "A Most Secret War," and William Mastrosimone's "The Woolgatherer" and "Extremities."
Mr. Bettenbender joined Rutgers in 1970 as professor of theater arts and chairman of the theater arts department at Douglass College. He later became chairmen of theater arts at the university. In 1975, Rutgers President Edward J. Bloustein made Mr. Bettenbender acting dean of the proposed professional school of the arts, which opened the next year with 90 graduate students. Later named Mason Gross School of the Arts, the institution grew to 440 undergraduates and 180 graduate students.
Mr. Bettenbender also founded and served as artistic director of the university's Levin heater Company, which came to produce a series of new plays every ear. It becomes a professional company in the summer, in residence at the Rutgers Arts Center. "We want to provide a place where we can do the kind of creative, experimental – even offbeat – original work that may not be available elsewhere in New Jersey," was how Mr. Bettenbender described it last year. Mr. Bettenbender also helped found the Rutgers SummerFest, a summer-long collection of art exhibits and theater, concert and dance performances. The first SummerFest last year attracted 22,000 people.
A resident of Highland Park, Mr. Bettenbender was born in Chicago on April 18, 1921. He received a bachelor's degree from Loyola University in Chicago, and a master's degree in fine arts from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Mr. Bettenbender lectured at Catholic University, the University of Maryland, Rutgers University, Newark Campus, and St. John's University, New York University and City College of New York. After serving as chairman of the speech and drama department at Loyola from 1948 to 1955, he was appointed assistant professor at St. John's University, New York, from 1957 to 1959.
Mr. Bettenbender went on to hold a similar position at Jersey City State College before he was appointed chairman of the speech and theater department of the Calumet Campus (now Calumet College) of St. Joseph's College in Indiana in 1964. In 1969, he went to Oberlin as professor of drama and director of theater at Oberlin College, Ohio. From there he came to Rutgers.
Surviving are his wife, Rita Baschieri Bettenbender; five sons, John, Michael and Eugene, all of Chicago, David of Miramar, Fla., and Benjamin of West New York, N.J.; five daughters, Jacqui Chaston of Mill Valley, Calif., Cynthia Sohn of Highland Park, Ill., Dezzie and Robin, both of Chicago, and Laure of Sydney, Australia; Ill., and Yvonne Spiegelblatt of Annandale, Va., and four grandchildren.
A mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Voorhees Chapel, on the Douglass College campus, with the Rev. Gregory Keeler of the Rutgers University campus ministry as the celebrant. Burial will be at Elmwood Cemetery, New Brunswick. Memorial contributions can be made to the John I. Bettenbender Scholarship Fund at the Mason Gross School of the Arts, c/o the Rutgers University Foundation, 191 College Ave., New Brunswick, N.J. 08903. Relatives and friends may call at the Jacqui-Kuhn Funeral Home, 17 S. Adelaide Ave., Highland Park, on 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Sunday.
Rutgers arts dean dies of rare cancer
Highland Park – John I. Bettenbender, dean of the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, died yesterday of a rare form of vascular cancer at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. He was 67. With years of experience as a playwright, director and actor, Mr. Bettenbender was a major influence in establishing Rutgers as a wellspring of talent that has nurtured hundreds of aspiring theater professionals.
"He was one of the most outstanding teaches I ever had," said Maureen Heffernan, who studied with Mr. Bettenbender at the Calumet Campus of St. Joseph's College in Indiana and later, at Rutgers. Heffernan is a freelance director who spent the last year as acting artistic director at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick. "He was the mover and shaker in the development of the arts at Rutgers and New Brunswick," said Rick Khan, another former student, in a statement. Khan went on to become a founder of Crossroads heater Company in New Brunswick, where he is producing director. "For me he was an inspiring mentor. Jack was one of the main outspoken supporters of Crossroads and he will be sorely missed."
John L. Goodyear, chairman of the visual art department at Mason Gross, called Mr. Bettenbender an "open-minded, generous person." Among the 200 productions that Mr. Bettenbender directed during his career were the Rutgers and New York productions of Eric Bentley's "Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been," Kevin Patterson's "A Most Secret War," and William Mastrosimone's "The Woolgatherer" and "Extremities."
Mr. Bettenbender joined Rutgers in 1970 as professor of theater arts and chairman of the theater arts department at Douglass College. He later became chairmen of theater arts at the university. In 1975, Rutgers President Edward J. Bloustein made Mr. Bettenbender acting dean of the proposed professional school of the arts, which opened the next year with 90 graduate students. Later named Mason Gross School of the Arts, the institution grew to 440 undergraduates and 180 graduate students.
Mr. Bettenbender also founded and served as artistic director of the university's Levin heater Company, which came to produce a series of new plays every ear. It becomes a professional company in the summer, in residence at the Rutgers Arts Center. "We want to provide a place where we can do the kind of creative, experimental – even offbeat – original work that may not be available elsewhere in New Jersey," was how Mr. Bettenbender described it last year. Mr. Bettenbender also helped found the Rutgers SummerFest, a summer-long collection of art exhibits and theater, concert and dance performances. The first SummerFest last year attracted 22,000 people.
A resident of Highland Park, Mr. Bettenbender was born in Chicago on April 18, 1921. He received a bachelor's degree from Loyola University in Chicago, and a master's degree in fine arts from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Mr. Bettenbender lectured at Catholic University, the University of Maryland, Rutgers University, Newark Campus, and St. John's University, New York University and City College of New York. After serving as chairman of the speech and drama department at Loyola from 1948 to 1955, he was appointed assistant professor at St. John's University, New York, from 1957 to 1959.
Mr. Bettenbender went on to hold a similar position at Jersey City State College before he was appointed chairman of the speech and theater department of the Calumet Campus (now Calumet College) of St. Joseph's College in Indiana in 1964. In 1969, he went to Oberlin as professor of drama and director of theater at Oberlin College, Ohio. From there he came to Rutgers.
Surviving are his wife, Rita Baschieri Bettenbender; five sons, John, Michael and Eugene, all of Chicago, David of Miramar, Fla., and Benjamin of West New York, N.J.; five daughters, Jacqui Chaston of Mill Valley, Calif., Cynthia Sohn of Highland Park, Ill., Dezzie and Robin, both of Chicago, and Laure of Sydney, Australia; Ill., and Yvonne Spiegelblatt of Annandale, Va., and four grandchildren.
A mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Voorhees Chapel, on the Douglass College campus, with the Rev. Gregory Keeler of the Rutgers University campus ministry as the celebrant. Burial will be at Elmwood Cemetery, New Brunswick. Memorial contributions can be made to the John I. Bettenbender Scholarship Fund at the Mason Gross School of the Arts, c/o the Rutgers University Foundation, 191 College Ave., New Brunswick, N.J. 08903. Relatives and friends may call at the Jacqui-Kuhn Funeral Home, 17 S. Adelaide Ave., Highland Park, on 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Sunday.
Home News Tribune - June 25, 1988
Rutgers arts dean dies of rare cancer
Highland Park – John I. Bettenbender, dean of the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, died yesterday of a rare form of vascular cancer at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. He was 67. With years of experience as a playwright, director and actor, Mr. Bettenbender was a major influence in establishing Rutgers as a wellspring of talent that has nurtured hundreds of aspiring theater professionals.
"He was one of the most outstanding teaches I ever had," said Maureen Heffernan, who studied with Mr. Bettenbender at the Calumet Campus of St. Joseph's College in Indiana and later, at Rutgers. Heffernan is a freelance director who spent the last year as acting artistic director at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick. "He was the mover and shaker in the development of the arts at Rutgers and New Brunswick," said Rick Khan, another former student, in a statement. Khan went on to become a founder of Crossroads heater Company in New Brunswick, where he is producing director. "For me he was an inspiring mentor. Jack was one of the main outspoken supporters of Crossroads and he will be sorely missed."
John L. Goodyear, chairman of the visual art department at Mason Gross, called Mr. Bettenbender an "open-minded, generous person." Among the 200 productions that Mr. Bettenbender directed during his career were the Rutgers and New York productions of Eric Bentley's "Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been," Kevin Patterson's "A Most Secret War," and William Mastrosimone's "The Woolgatherer" and "Extremities."
Mr. Bettenbender joined Rutgers in 1970 as professor of theater arts and chairman of the theater arts department at Douglass College. He later became chairmen of theater arts at the university. In 1975, Rutgers President Edward J. Bloustein made Mr. Bettenbender acting dean of the proposed professional school of the arts, which opened the next year with 90 graduate students. Later named Mason Gross School of the Arts, the institution grew to 440 undergraduates and 180 graduate students.
Mr. Bettenbender also founded and served as artistic director of the university's Levin heater Company, which came to produce a series of new plays every ear. It becomes a professional company in the summer, in residence at the Rutgers Arts Center. "We want to provide a place where we can do the kind of creative, experimental – even offbeat – original work that may not be available elsewhere in New Jersey," was how Mr. Bettenbender described it last year. Mr. Bettenbender also helped found the Rutgers SummerFest, a summer-long collection of art exhibits and theater, concert and dance performances. The first SummerFest last year attracted 22,000 people.
A resident of Highland Park, Mr. Bettenbender was born in Chicago on April 18, 1921. He received a bachelor's degree from Loyola University in Chicago, and a master's degree in fine arts from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Mr. Bettenbender lectured at Catholic University, the University of Maryland, Rutgers University, Newark Campus, and St. John's University, New York University and City College of New York. After serving as chairman of the speech and drama department at Loyola from 1948 to 1955, he was appointed assistant professor at St. John's University, New York, from 1957 to 1959.
Mr. Bettenbender went on to hold a similar position at Jersey City State College before he was appointed chairman of the speech and theater department of the Calumet Campus (now Calumet College) of St. Joseph's College in Indiana in 1964. In 1969, he went to Oberlin as professor of drama and director of theater at Oberlin College, Ohio. From there he came to Rutgers.
Surviving are his wife, Rita Baschieri Bettenbender; five sons, John, Michael and Eugene, all of Chicago, David of Miramar, Fla., and Benjamin of West New York, N.J.; five daughters, Jacqui Chaston of Mill Valley, Calif., Cynthia Sohn of Highland Park, Ill., Dezzie and Robin, both of Chicago, and Laure of Sydney, Australia; Ill., and Yvonne Spiegelblatt of Annandale, Va., and four grandchildren.
A mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Voorhees Chapel, on the Douglass College campus, with the Rev. Gregory Keeler of the Rutgers University campus ministry as the celebrant. Burial will be at Elmwood Cemetery, New Brunswick. Memorial contributions can be made to the John I. Bettenbender Scholarship Fund at the Mason Gross School of the Arts, c/o the Rutgers University Foundation, 191 College Ave., New Brunswick, N.J. 08903. Relatives and friends may call at the Jacqui-Kuhn Funeral Home, 17 S. Adelaide Ave., Highland Park, on 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Sunday.
Rutgers arts dean dies of rare cancer
Highland Park – John I. Bettenbender, dean of the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, died yesterday of a rare form of vascular cancer at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. He was 67. With years of experience as a playwright, director and actor, Mr. Bettenbender was a major influence in establishing Rutgers as a wellspring of talent that has nurtured hundreds of aspiring theater professionals.
"He was one of the most outstanding teaches I ever had," said Maureen Heffernan, who studied with Mr. Bettenbender at the Calumet Campus of St. Joseph's College in Indiana and later, at Rutgers. Heffernan is a freelance director who spent the last year as acting artistic director at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick. "He was the mover and shaker in the development of the arts at Rutgers and New Brunswick," said Rick Khan, another former student, in a statement. Khan went on to become a founder of Crossroads heater Company in New Brunswick, where he is producing director. "For me he was an inspiring mentor. Jack was one of the main outspoken supporters of Crossroads and he will be sorely missed."
John L. Goodyear, chairman of the visual art department at Mason Gross, called Mr. Bettenbender an "open-minded, generous person." Among the 200 productions that Mr. Bettenbender directed during his career were the Rutgers and New York productions of Eric Bentley's "Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been," Kevin Patterson's "A Most Secret War," and William Mastrosimone's "The Woolgatherer" and "Extremities."
Mr. Bettenbender joined Rutgers in 1970 as professor of theater arts and chairman of the theater arts department at Douglass College. He later became chairmen of theater arts at the university. In 1975, Rutgers President Edward J. Bloustein made Mr. Bettenbender acting dean of the proposed professional school of the arts, which opened the next year with 90 graduate students. Later named Mason Gross School of the Arts, the institution grew to 440 undergraduates and 180 graduate students.
Mr. Bettenbender also founded and served as artistic director of the university's Levin heater Company, which came to produce a series of new plays every ear. It becomes a professional company in the summer, in residence at the Rutgers Arts Center. "We want to provide a place where we can do the kind of creative, experimental – even offbeat – original work that may not be available elsewhere in New Jersey," was how Mr. Bettenbender described it last year. Mr. Bettenbender also helped found the Rutgers SummerFest, a summer-long collection of art exhibits and theater, concert and dance performances. The first SummerFest last year attracted 22,000 people.
A resident of Highland Park, Mr. Bettenbender was born in Chicago on April 18, 1921. He received a bachelor's degree from Loyola University in Chicago, and a master's degree in fine arts from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Mr. Bettenbender lectured at Catholic University, the University of Maryland, Rutgers University, Newark Campus, and St. John's University, New York University and City College of New York. After serving as chairman of the speech and drama department at Loyola from 1948 to 1955, he was appointed assistant professor at St. John's University, New York, from 1957 to 1959.
Mr. Bettenbender went on to hold a similar position at Jersey City State College before he was appointed chairman of the speech and theater department of the Calumet Campus (now Calumet College) of St. Joseph's College in Indiana in 1964. In 1969, he went to Oberlin as professor of drama and director of theater at Oberlin College, Ohio. From there he came to Rutgers.
Surviving are his wife, Rita Baschieri Bettenbender; five sons, John, Michael and Eugene, all of Chicago, David of Miramar, Fla., and Benjamin of West New York, N.J.; five daughters, Jacqui Chaston of Mill Valley, Calif., Cynthia Sohn of Highland Park, Ill., Dezzie and Robin, both of Chicago, and Laure of Sydney, Australia; Ill., and Yvonne Spiegelblatt of Annandale, Va., and four grandchildren.
A mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Voorhees Chapel, on the Douglass College campus, with the Rev. Gregory Keeler of the Rutgers University campus ministry as the celebrant. Burial will be at Elmwood Cemetery, New Brunswick. Memorial contributions can be made to the John I. Bettenbender Scholarship Fund at the Mason Gross School of the Arts, c/o the Rutgers University Foundation, 191 College Ave., New Brunswick, N.J. 08903. Relatives and friends may call at the Jacqui-Kuhn Funeral Home, 17 S. Adelaide Ave., Highland Park, on 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Sunday.
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