The uOttawa community was saddened to learn about the death of Dr. Paul Hagen, founding dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Dr. Hagen passed away in Ottawa on April 7 at the age of 87.
Graduating with an MD from the University of Sydney, Dr. Hagen began his academic career in his native Australia before moving to Oxford, Yale and Harvard prior to arriving in Canada in 1959. While developing a stellar reputation as a researcher, he was increasingly sought after as an administrator and was head of the department of biochemistry at Queen’s University and director of research grants at the National Research Council.
In 1968, Dr. Hagen was recruited as the first dean of the then-named School of Graduate Studies and Research at the University of Ottawa. His pioneering work established the University’s graduate offerings on a solid footing. He remained as dean until his retirement in 1986. His significant contribution to the University was acknowledged in 1988 with the naming of Hagen Hall in his honour.
Dr. Hagen’s contributions to the faculty and the University continued long after his retirement. Nicole Bégin-Heick, one of his successors as dean, fondly recalls Dr. Hagen, dropping by the faculty to provide advice, underlining that “a dean of graduate studies needs to know about everything at the University.”
Dr. Hagen is survived by his wife Jean Himms-Hagen (uOttawa professor emeritus of biochemistry) and daughters Anna and Nina.
