Ex-Faculty Dean Was 67 : Robert S. Ryf of Occidental Dies

Robert S. Ryf, former dean of the faculty at Occidental College and a well-known member of Los Angeles’ literary community, is dead at age 67.

His death at his Pasadena home on Oct. 7 was announced by the college this week.

A school spokeswoman attributed the death to a brief illness.

Ryf was a graduate of Occidental where he joined the faculty in 1955, later earning a doctorate from Columbia University. He was a modern literature scholar whose “A New Approach to (James) Joyce,” written in 1961, is now in its third printing. He also published works on Joseph Conrad and Henry Green.

Ryf was named Occidental’s first dean of students in 1961, and he was appointed dean of the faculty and vice president for academic affairs in 1967. In 1971 he was chosen an Outstanding Educator of America, a national honor for which he was nominated by his colleagues.

Ryf had written for radio and television as a young man and in 1976 returned to the latter medium where he developed “Occidental College Quest: The Words and Works of Man,” which aired that year on Channel 2.

Ryf retired in 1981 and is survived by his wife, Elaine, a son, a daughter and two grandchildren.