When William “Reed” McIntyre’s taught at DU during the 1960s and 1970s, art courses were packed full and were held in an old World War II barracks near campus, recalls Professor Emeritus Maynard Tischler.
The art department was among the largest at DU, garnering attention because of famed artist Vance Kirkland, who chaired the department.
“Reed was the first one that welcomed me when I came to Denver in 1965,” says Tischler. “He and some students took me out to lunch. He was just a very easygoing guy.”
McIntyre, an artist and assistant professor of art at DU for 14 years, died Feb. 2. He was
82.
William McIntyre was born Sept. 21, 1927, in Detroit. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in design from the University of Michigan. His focus in art was sculpting, and his work was displayed both locally and nationally.
He worked as a graphic designer in Michigan and then became an instructor at the University of California-Berkley. He joined the University of Denver faculty in 1963.
Classes were crowded then, and McIntyre was among new faculty added to give more individualized attention to students, University records show. He was handpicked by Kirkland to join DU.
“Considering all the faculty I have been privileged to work with in the area of sculpture during my career as administrator of the School of Art, Reed McIntyre has been without doubt the most effective,” Kirkland wrote in 1965. “Whenever he has been extremely critical of classroom facilities or lack of equipment, he has never contented himself with griping against the University or my office, but always seemed to work out a solution.”
McIntyre helped develop the graduate program in sculpture. He was “adored” by his graduate students, Kirkland said in 1967. Kirkland died in 1981.
McIntyre had said his first priority was to be an excellent teacher, and his secondary goal was to produce sculpture.
Tischler says McIntyre enjoyed teaching very much and was a very pleasant member of the faculty, though not a prolific sculptor.
Most of what McIntyre produced after retirement, he didn’t show, Tischler says.
McIntyre retired from DU in September 1977.
He is survived by his wife, Kathleen, and three children. His daughter Mary preceded him in death.