Nicholas W Fenney
Nicholas W Fenney (Nu)
Grand Regent: 1953-1955
(From the History of Kappa Psi; D. Garner, 1993)
Nick Fenney was born in New Haven, Connecticut on July 18, 1906. He first lived on Orchard Street and later on Elm Street. He was educated in the public schools and graduated from Hillhouse High School. In 1925, Nick received the degree of Ph.G. from the College of Pharmacy of the City of New York. In 1930, he received the degree of Pharmaceutical Chemist and in 1942 a Degree in Pharmacy from the University of Connecticut. A graduate degree in public health was awarded to him by the Yale Medical School in 1946. In addition, specialized courses were acquired at New York University and at Albertus Magnus College. All of Nick’s education from 1925 till 1946 was earned concurrently with his faculty appointment at the Connecticut College of Pharmacy. At one point of time, he was taking classes at Yale Medical School in the morning, teaching pharmaceutics in the College of Pharmacy in the afternoon, and working in a local
pharmacy in the evening.
Nick Fenney started teaching in what was then called the Connecticut College of Pharmacy in 1925, the first year it opened. At the time of his retirement on October 1,1968, he held the rank of full Professor with the rare distinction of having taught every graduating student of the School of Pharmacy for 43 consecutive years. In 1968, Brother Nick became a Consultant for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Connecticut. On weekends, Nick worked in a local pharmacy in Hamden, Connecticut for 37 years. In addition to his consulting role with Blue Cross Blue Shield, he also worked part-time in a local pharmacy on Whitney Avenue in Hamden.
Nick married his first wife, Annamae, on June 10, 1930. They had two children, Nick Jr., born on December 22,1931 and Barbara, born in September, 1936. Nick Jr. and his wife, Judith, lived in Cheshire, Connecticut. They have two children, Mark and Lauren. Lauren has one child, Nicholas Charles Taylor and Mark has one child, Johnathan William Fenney. Nick’s daughter, Barbara and her husband have three children, David, Susan, and Timothy.
Nick and Annamae lived in the home of Nick’s parents from 1930 to 1939. They moved into a newly built, white two-story colonial house at 62 Broadfield Road, Hamden, Connecticut, where they resided until Annamae’s death by Cancer in November, 1974.
Nick Fenney was initiated into Nu Chapter of Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity on December 3, 1928, less than six months after the Chapter’s founding. He was one of 13 charter members of the Connecticut Graduate Chapter, installed in January 1931. Brother Fenney began his outstanding period of service in the national organization in December 1941 when he was elected Grand Counselor at the 21st Grand Council Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He served six years in this office, followed by another six years as Grand Historian. His work revealed or authenticated information of significance, some of which became a part of the first and subsequent editions of the Fraternity’s Handbook. He wrote some of the material which was later recorded in Dr. Eby’s 1967 History of Kappa Psi.
In December 1953, at the 27th Grand Council Convention in Washington, D.C., Brother Fenney was elected Grand Regent and he served in this office until December, 1955. In July 1955, the office of Editor of The MASK suddenly became vacant. Brother Fenney temporarily assumed the Editorship for the October-December issue while also serving as Grand Regent. In January 1956, he was appointed Editor and he continued to occupy this office until his retirement from the University of Connecticut, thirteen years and fifty two issues later. During the many years that he served as Editor, a number of new features were added. There was broader coverage of general fraternity news and greater emphasis was directed toward recording news of the Graduate Brothers and their outstanding activities in the many areas of the profession.
During his lifetime, Brother Fenney received many honors. In 1947, the Connecticut Pharmaceutical Association awarded him a life membership and in 1953, an honorary certificate. In 1949, the Governor of Connecticut, Chester Bowles, nominated him to serve as the State’s Food and Drug Commissioner. On April 29, 1954, the Connecticut Graduate Chapter held a Ladies Night Banquet in his honor. On October 21, 1965, a Testimonial Dinner and Celebration was sponsored by his friends, colleagues and former students at the Waverly Inn in Cheshire, Connecticut. In 1965, the Nicholas W. Fenney Scholarship Award at the University of Connecticut was established by the Connecticut Pharmaceutical Association. An additional stipend was contributed to this scholarship in 1969 by Lederle Laboratories. In 1969, he received the Nard-Lederle National Interprofessional Relations Award for advancement of interprofessional relations between medicine and pharmacy. In 1975, he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Connecticut Alumni Association. Characterized by unselfish devotion to his Fraternity, Brother Nicholas Fenney served, with distinction, through the lean as well as the most prosperous years of the Fraternity. For more than 60 years, Brother Nick was a legend of Kappa Psi.