Obituary of Kenneth R. Bain

Kenneth Ray Bain of Morristown, NJ, passed away peacefully, in the presence of family,on October 10, 2025.

Ken was born in Summerville, Georgia, on January 29, 1942, one of four children (two boys, two girls) raised by Vera and Jesse Lee Bain. He spent most of his childhood in the Queen City of the Ozarks (and birthplace of ‘Route 66’), Springfield, Missouri, before venturing to the Lone Star state for college.

As a North Texas State University graduate student, he met Marsha, a charming and remarkably tolerant undergrad and eventual wife of 59 years. They married on July 23,1966, and soon had two children, Marshall and Tonia.

He earned his PhD in U.S. History from the University of Texas at Austin. As a professor, he discovered not only a passion for sharing history, but also for the art and science of teaching and learning. He became the founding director of the History Teaching Center at the University of Texas-Pan American before launching major teaching and learning centers at Vanderbilt University, Northwestern University, New York University, and Montclair State University. Through this work–as well as his own pioneering scholarship and role leading his organization, Best Teachers Institute–he drove an increased focus on teaching quality at colleges and universities around the world.

Ken also achieved his dream of being a successful writer, publishing five books. These included the now classic “What the Best College Teachers Do”, which won the 2004 Virginia and Warren Stone Prize for an outstanding book on education and society, has been translated into fourteen languages and was the subject of an award-winning television documentary series in 2007.

In the latter half of his career, he was invited to lecture and lead workshops at hundreds of universities and academic events in the United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia … which, once he overcame his fear of flying, afforded him and Marsha the opportunity to explore the world together.

Ken was known for his quirky sense of humor, his contagious love of learning (including a good-faith attempt to learn Mandarin), a knack for answering any question about history, his devotion to the St. Louis Cardinals, and his enthusiasm for model trains. He cherished his role as a grandfather and was immensely proud of his three grandsons.

Ken was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Jess Bain. He is survived by his wife, Marsha Bain; his children, Marshall and Tonia Bain; his daughter-in-law, Alice; son-in-law, Al; three grandsons, Adam, Nate, and Junhui; and sisters, Sue Triplett and Brena Walker.

A memorial gathering will be held on Saturday, October 25, at Dangler Funeral Home in Morris Plains, New Jersey, beginning at 2:00pm and concluding at 5:00pm. Remarks will be shared by family and friends at 3:00pm.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (https://alzfdn.org/donate/) or the ACLU Foundation of Texas (https://action.aclu.org/give/tribute-aclu-tx).