On April 24, 2026, the Kenyon community gathered to celebrate the life of visionary architect Graham Gund ’63 H’81. The following remarks were given by Kenyon College emeritus trustee and former Bishop of Ohio the Rt. Rev. Mark Hollingsworth Jr.
One of the great blessings of serving as a trustee of Kenyon College was getting to spend two decades with Graham Gund in the context of this institution and place he so loved. I had known Ann and Graham for some 15 years before our family moved to Ohio; they were friends of my parents-in-law and other mutual friends in Cambridge and Boston. But it wasn’t until I arrived on this campus a few months before GUND Partnership’s master plan was presented to the College that I began to understand his passion for and profound commitment to this community.
Like some of you, I have had the privilege of witnessing the maturation of the campus and village through the years of Graham’s most active work within them. The word maturation seems more appropriate than transformation, as they have not so much become something different as they have come more fully to embody and manifest what they were originally intended to be: a place where leaders are formed in body, mind, and spirit. As an ecclesial descendant of Bishop Philander Chase, I would offer that what Graham has provided reflects the physical, intellectual and spiritual maturation of this community and all who are part of it.
In designing buildings for physical and intellectual formation, Graham also defined space, both inside and outside of those buildings, for spiritual formation. Of course, he created beautiful, efficient, and practical structures for the physical and intellectual activities of academic and community life. More importantly, he created space for the spirit: in the Lowry Center, space for the spirit of competition, teamwork, and wellness; in the music, arts, and film buildings, space for the artistic and creative spirit; in the residence and dining halls, space for the spirit of refreshment, restoration, and community; in the academic buildings and Chalmers Library, space for the inquisitive and intellectual spirit; in the Snowden Multicultural Center and Unity House, space for the spirit of holiness in its many and varied forms; in the Cox Health and Counseling Center, space for the spirit of healing and caring and renewal. Most importantly, within, between, and outside all of these structures, Graham has defined space for the spirit of imagination and adventure. His contributions to this place on the hill, held together by the Middle Path, have reflected the very values and aspirations upon which the College was founded, immeasurably furthering its own maturation — physical, intellectual and spiritual.
What inspired me most about Graham was his engagement with students. I especially loved watching him talk with them individually. For many of them, he was larger than life. Yet, in the quiet, unassuming, and attentive way he listened to them, he was affirming and encouraging. For someone so accomplished and, not infrequently, certain of his convictions, he so gently made space for others. Indeed, he made space for their spirits. I suppose that is a suitable definition of inspiring: making space for the spirit — for its affirmation, for its appreciation, for its formation.
And so, in gratitude for Graham and the places he has made — spiritual, intellectual and spiritual — let us pray.
We seem to give him back to you, dear God, who has given him to us. Yet, as you did not lose him in giving, so we have not lost him by his return. Not as the world gives, do you give, O Lover of souls. What you give, you do not take away. For what is yours is ours always, if we are yours. And life is eternal; and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight. Lift us up, O God, that we may see further; cleanse our eyes that we may see more clearly; draw us closer to yourself, that we may know ourselves to be nearer to Graham and all our beloved who are with you. And while you prepare a place for us, prepare us for that happy place, that, where they are and you are, we too may be. Amen.
The Rt. Rev. Mark Hollingsworth, Jr.
11th Bishop of Ohio
Prayer adapted from “Burial Services” (1980 edition), compiled by the Rev. Dr. Joseph Buchanan Bernardin (1899-1989), Episcopal priest. Attributed to William Penn (1644-1718), as well as to the Venerable Bede (673-735).