UW News blog

October 23, 2014

Denny Bell to ring Friday as family carries on 53-year UW tradition

Brewster Denny, great-grandson of Seattle and University of Washington founders Arthur and Mary Denny, rang the Denny Bell for UW homecoming ceremonies nearly every autumn for 51 years. He died in 2013 at the age of 88, but his family is carrying on the tradition.

Denny’s daughter Maria Denny will gather with her mother, Patricia, husband, Jim Kodjababian, and their children, Jacob and Ella, at 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24 — at Denny Hall, of course — to ring the bell, commemorating Homecoming, for its 53^rd year.

The famous 400-pound bell is usually rung only at Homecoming, though there have been notable exceptions: It was rung during the Great Seattle Fire of 1899 and when President John F. Kennedy visited campus in 1961 — as well as two years later, when Kennedy was assassinated.

Brewster Denny created the Graduate School of Public Affairs — known today as the Evans School of Public Affairs — in 1962 and served initially as director and later as dean. He held that position until 1980 and taught diplomatic history and American foreign policy until 2004. Denny was named professor and dean emeritus in 1992.

Of his own role in UW history, he once said, “My descendency from people who landed at Alki Point I’ve never looked upon as an entitlement, only a responsibility.”

Brewster Denny and the Denny Bell are part of UW history. Here are a few links to learn more:

• A 2011 UW Today story, noting the bell’s 50^th annual ringing.
• An article by UW history chronicler Antoinette Wills in the UW Alumni Magazine, Columns.
• A history of the bell in Columns by editor Jon Marmor.
• Brewster Denny’s obituary in the Seattle Times.

To learn more about or attend this year’s bell-ringing, contact J. Paul Blake, Evans School communications and external relations director, at 206-543-3958 or jpblake@uw.edu.