In the News

The Standard-Times
By Joseph R. LaPlante, Standard-Times staff writer
March 23, 2005

DARTMOUTH -- Alan Lee Hankin, the founding executive director of the Katharine Nordell Lloyd Center in Dartmouth and the principal architect of the Massachusetts Environmental Education Plan, died unexpectedly on Tuesday.

His death at the age of 56 shocked the SouthCoast environmental community where Mr. Hankin had long made a major mark -- and which hailed him as an inspiring and energized visionary.

From helping to found the Coalition of Buzzards Bay to bringing teachers aboard the schooner Ernestina to learn lessons shared with countless students, the Dartmouth resident and Emerson College professor brought passion to his vocation.

"His depth of knowledge and enthusiasm as a teacher was remarkable and inspirational," said Greg Swanzey, executive director of the Schooner Ernestina Commission. "He was so full of energy. He was a remarkable educator."

Mr. Swanzey said Mr. Hankin "had an impact statewide" as a member of the Secretary's Advisory Group for Environmental Education and as an adviser to the secretary of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs.

Mr. Hankin's legacy also includes the Massachusetts Environmental Education Plan. He was project director of the effort.

The plan was the product of workshops held across the state involving hundreds of people. It identifies ways in which environmental education can be efficiently and effectively incorporated into all aspects of learning.

Selectmen, a town administrator, colleagues at Emerson College and SouthCoast environmentalists all said they learned from Mr. Hankin.

"He was one of those behind-the-scenes people for us," said former Dartmouth Select Board member Enid Silva. "He would feed information to you about important issues that you were dealing with."

Mrs. Silva also knew Mr. Hankin and his wife, Susan, as parents when she taught their two children, Joshua Edward Hankin and Julia Elizabeth Hankin, at the Children's Circle Nursery School in South Dartmouth.

"He was supportive and interested in every aspect of his children's education," Mrs. Silva said. "He was a wonderful father."

Dartmouth Town Administrator Michael J. Gagne knew Mr. Hankin since his appointment as director of the Lloyd Center more than 20 years ago. At the time, Mr. Gagne was the town's environmental affairs coordinator.

"We would often consult with him," Mr. Gagne said last night. "He helped with so many community projects, with the technical aspects."

But, Mr. Hankin, who held a doctorate in environmental science, brought more than technical expertise to the sometimes heated issues of town government, Mr. Gagne said.

"He had a nice way of taking the volatility out of things," Mr. Gagne said. "The way he brought various factions together, he was a real diplomat."

The bearish, bearded Mr. Hankin cut a distinctive figure in his signature tan, khaki shorts and flannel shirt. He was remembered warmly at Emerson College yesterday not only as a gifted teacher, but for the sight of him dashing across campus on the coldest days in his unique garb.

"He was beloved by his students and respected by his colleagues. ... His passing is an enormous loss," college President Jacqueline Liebergott said yesterday.

In the past, Mr. Hankin served as the associate director for programs and exhibits at the New England Aquarium and as co-founder of the Massachusetts Education Alliance.

"Alan really decided to dedicate all his attention to education," said Mark Rasmussen, executive director of the Coalition for Buzzards Bay. "He wanted students of all ages to experience the environment hands-on.

"He ran at a million miles an hour and he infused that passion in his students."

Mr. Rasmussen said the name of Mr. Hankin's consulting company, Pandion, provided insight into his late friend. "He named his company Pandion because that is the genus of the osprey. ... That was so Alan."

Read Obituary for Alan Lee Hankin

This story appeared in The Standard-Times on March 3, 2005.