Andrew Strauss, the dean of the University of Dayton, sends along news that there is a memorial service today at the University for Dennis Greene. Professor Greene is known to those of us in the academy for his work on critical race theory, including "Immigrants in Chains: Afrophobia in American Legal History," 76 Oregon Law Review (1997). But he is known to music lovers for his career as a singer with the band Sha Na Na -- and for his performance in the musical Grease. Cribbing now from his Dayton website:
Professor Greene cofounded Sha Na Na as an undergraduate at Columbia University and, having achieved fame, toured internationally from 1969-1977. The group appeared in the Academy Award-winning documentary Woodstock and in the movie "Grease," in which Professor Greene sang lead on "Tears on My Pillow." They released eight albums and hosted a syndicated TV variety show from 1977-1980.
While Professor Greene says he loved being on stage and performing for an audience, his heavy travel schedule was exhausting, and he was getting older. "We were successful for 15 years," he says, "but once you realize you've had a good run, you have to make the transition to something with potential for longevity."
Holding an interest in law from his childhood, Professor Greene also knew a law degree would help in the business world. "Without legal education, saying a contract doesn't sound right doesn't get you anywhere," he says. "I went into law to gain an authoritative knowledge of the parameters of law, what you can and can't do."
After graduating from Yale Law School, he became vice president of production and features at Columbia Pictures and later became president of Lenox/Greene Films.
Professor Greene also earned a master's degree in education from Harvard. His obituary from the New York Times is here and the University of Dayton's memorial is here. I crossed paths with Professor Greene only a few times. It was refreshing to have him argue that I should have been more strongly in favor of reparations for the eras of slavery and Jim Crow than I was. In addition to his years at Dayton, he taught at the University of Oregon, Florida A&M, Seton Hall, Ohio State, and the University of Connecticut. The academy has lost another beloved teacher.
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