Mary Tobin, a longtime fixture and friend of the Rice community whose commitment to the university continued long after her retirement in 2009, died Nov. 23. She was 80 years old.
A former English lecturer who taught generations of Rice students the art and craft of better writing, she remained active on campus through volunteer work with various organizations.
Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Tobin received her bachelor’s degree from Carleton College and was an active alumna who regularly traveled to visit her former classmates. Tobin graduated with her master’s degree from Columbia University and came to Rice in 1967 as a graduate student in English.
In 1973, Tobin earned her Ph.D. from Rice in English with a dissertation on the Ludus Coventriae. She began teaching academic writing at Rice in 1979. A voracious reader all her life, Tobin also enjoyed the challenge of teaching writing to incoming freshmen — especially student athletes.
“The athletic department knew that if a student got into Mary's course, she would lavish time and attention on helping that student,” said fellow retired English lecturer Linda Driskill, who shared an office with Tobin for 30 years. “We taught thousands of students and read many more essays than we can ever remember — and we moved offices so many times — and throughout, Mary was always just extremely patient and extremely organized.”
Tobin’s classes and pedagogical work were at the forefront of what would eventually become Rice’s First-Year Writing Intensive Seminars, which are now required for all incoming students through the Program in Writing and Communication (PWC).
“Mary was a wonderful educator who cared deeply about students and worked tirelessly, and without recognition, to help her students communicate more effectively to achieve their goals,” said Tracy Volz, director of Rice’s Engineering Communications Program and the former director of the PWC, who was a longtime colleague.
“In addition to teaching English 103: Freshman Composition, Mary contributed to summer outreach programs such as the Catalyst Program and the Honors Premedical Academy, which prepared underrepresented students to navigate the college or medical school admissions process successfully,” Volz said.
Tobin spent 17 years working with the Honors Premedical Academy at Baylor College of Medicine, a joint venture with Rice that provides promising students from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine with educational and practical experiences that help them win admission to medical schools.
“She was especially devoted to minority students and to those people she thought would flourish if they were able to communicate their ideas and communicate them well,” Driskill said. “She was really insistent on high quality, and she never gave up on anybody.”
An avid traveler, Tobin took trips across the world, hiking everywhere from Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park to New Zealand and the Orkney and Shetland Islands off the coast of Scotland. She also enjoyed combining her love of travel and reading during road trips across Texas, recalled husband Don Tobin.
“She would read anywhere she was,” Don said. “When we’d take trips to San Antonio or Austin, she’d have a book and I’d do the driving.”
When Tobin wasn’t volunteering with the Woodson Research Center at Fondren Library or the Association of Retired Rice University Faculty, she stayed involved with the Rice Women’s Club reading group and helped keep its Graduate Student Loan Closet running.
“I tend to think of people the way (former Rice English professor) Terry Doody used to think about poems,” Driskill said. “He used to say, ‘Look for the most important idea or most important word in the poem,’ and for me, Mary's word is ‘steadfast.’ She was truly a dedicated, committed person.”
Tobin loved to walk the beautiful Rice campus where she spent over half a century of her life, Don said, and would often make the journey from their home near Rice Village. The Tobins were also active members of Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church for many years.
“Of course, Mary also really enjoyed being with her two grandchildren,” Don said. “That was probably her favorite activity.”
In addition to her husband and grandchildren, Tobin is survived by two children, Jeff Tobin '99 of Houston and Katie Tobin of Memphis. A memorial service will be held Feb. 12 at 11 a.m. at Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church, 6221 Main St.