Former Professor Arthur Lynip Dies at 97

Arthur Lynip, emeritus distinguished professor of English, died Jan. 16 in North Carolina at the age of 97. He taught at Westmont from 1967-1977 and left an enduring legacy as an outstanding scholar, dedicated teacher and committed Christian.

Lynip’s teaching and personal style deeply endeared him to students, recalls John Sider, emeritus distinguished professor of English. “Faculty and students alike valued his wisdom and admired his trenchant wit,” Sider says. “His influence at Westmont was truly remarkable in proportion to the single decade of his stay.”

Lynip graduated from Houghton College in New York and earned a master’s degree in sociology and English and a doctorate in language development from New York University. He taught English literature at Bryan College in Tennessee for three years and at two New York high schools for three years before serving as a high school principal for five years. In 1950 he returned to Houghton as professor of English and academic dean, a position he held until 1966.

At Westmont Lynip served one year as interim dean of faculty (1970-71) and chaired the English and modern languages department for several years. In 1972 he pioneered the college’s England Semester. During the 1974 trip, Lynip and his students learned by chance that they could purchase a wardrobe C.S. Lewis owned that closely matches the one described in his famous children’s book “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” They brought the celebrated wardrobe to campus in 1975, and it remained in the English department until 2008, when it became part of a five-year touring exhibit related to the Narnia films. The wardrobe will return to Westmont in 2013.

Lynip, the teacher of the year in 1970, was the first Westmont faculty member to be named distinguished professor, an honor since held by only a handful of professors. Houghton College awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1975.

A memorial service at Carmel Presbyterian Church, in Charlotte, N.C., Jan. 19 honored Lynip, as will a service at Houghton Wesleyan Church in Houghton, N.Y., Jan. 23.

Paul Delaney, who joined the English faculty in 1972, says of Lynip, “He loved the Lord, he loved literature, and he loved students. And he delighted in deepening students’ relationship with literature and with the Lord. Arthur Lynip left us a legacy to cherish, to celebrate, and to strive to emulate. All who remember him will miss him mightily.”

Here is a press kit with photos of Dr. Lynip from the Westmont College Archives