Wayne John Hankey

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our beloved brother, Wayne John Hankey, at home in Halifax, on February 06, 2022. Prof. Hankey was one of the leading scholars of the Neoplatonic tradition of his generation, and a world authority on the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas. He was also a charismatic and inspiring teacher whose many devoted students carry on his important and groundbreaking work at institutions all over the world.

Born in 1944, he was the son of John Everett Hankey of Middle Sackville and Marion Leona Eisenhauer of Hammonds Plains, Nova Scotia. He was raised in Lower Sackville where he was an acolyte at St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church. The Rector, Fr. Karl Tufts, was an important influence on his early life and in his vocation to the priesthood. The Rev. Professor Robert Crouse was a major spiritual influence, and together with Prof. James Doull, was an important mentor during his university studies. Wayne received Holy Orders in the Diocese of Nova Scotia in the early seventies and in midlife was received into the Roman Catholic Church.

Wayne took his BA from the University of King’s College and Dalhousie University (First Class Honours, University Gold Medal in Philosophy, Valedictorian), MA from the University of Toronto (First Class Honours in Philosophy), and Doctor of Philosophy from Oxford University.

He was a founding Director of the Foundation Year Program at King’s College and for many years a Carnegie Professor at King’s and Dalhousie Universities. He was the Librarian of King’s College and led a successful fund raising campaign and worked closely with architects on the design and construction of a new library. For nine years he served as Chair of the Department of Classics, during which time he was instrumental in establishing the new Religious Studies Program. Wayne enlivened the classroom and meetings with his boldly articulate and highly animated contributions and maintained an unwavering commitment to the quality and integrity of scholarly and pedagogical practices.

Wayne was a visiting fellow at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard and Boston College. He was the recipient of numerous scholarships, fellowships, and academic awards and the author of three monographs, six edited books, and 97 published articles. His book, God in Himself: Aquinas’ Doctrine of God as Expounded in the Summa Theologiae, was published by the Oxford University Press in 1987 and reprinted in 2000 for the Oxford Scholarly Classics series.

He was proud of his South Shore Foreign Protestant ancestry, the Eisenhauers having arrived on the Betty in 1751 and Dauphineys on the Speedwell in 1752. Both families were among the founders of Lunenburg in 1753. Wayne served as part-time Rector on the South Shore in the Parish of Petite Riviere.

Wayne was a highly skilled chef and generous host. He honed his culinary skills as a student working during summers at Keltic Lodge in Cape Breton. He had a deep love of classical music, the fine arts and architecture. He was widely travelled and lived for several years in Rome and Paris where he was able to experience firsthand the Italian and French cultures to which he was deeply attached.

He is survived by his brother Blair, sisters Camilla and Kathleen and many family members and friends.