Dennis Patrick Hogan

Dr. Dennis Patrick Hogan passed away in Bellingham, Washington, on July 9, 2026. He was born on July 28, 1950, in Fort Dodge, Iowa, and grew up on the family farm until he left for college.

Dennis earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology from the University of Iowa in 1972. He went on to earn both his Master of Science and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, completing his doctorate in 1976.

Dennis began his academic career at the University of Chicago, where he taught and conducted research from 1976 to 1987. He then joined the faculty at Penn State University before moving to Brown University in 1995. At Brown, he held the Robert E. Turner Professorship in Population Studies and served multiple terms as chair of the Department of Sociology, and director of the Population Studies and Training Center.

Dennis’s research examined the life course of adolescents, including educational attainment, employment, family formation, and the ways opportunity and family resources shaped young people’s transitions into adulthood. He also studied the health and disability of children and adolescents, and the effects of disability on family life. Throughout his career, he conducted extensive research on reproductive and child health in developing countries, with long-running studies in Ethiopia, and in later years collaborated with the Institute for Community and Public Health at Birzeit University in the West Bank to help establish a center for population research.

While living in Chicago, Dennis met Mary Fennell. They married in 1979 and built a loving family together. Dennis was a devoted husband, father, brother, uncle, and friend and mentor.

Outside of his professional life, Dennis found great joy in gardening and taking long walks with a series of labrador and golden retrievers. He was an active member in his local episcopal churches and volunteered with Literacy Volunteers of the East Bay in Rhode Island, helping adults in underserved communities build their literacy skills. In 2022, Dennis and Mary moved to Washington State to be closer to family.

Dennis was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 47 years, Mary Fennell; his parents, Harold Hogan and Ann Rutledge Hogan; and his siblings, Peggy Ramsden, Patrick Hogan, Matthew Hogan, and Michael Hogan.

He is survived by his children, Meghan Hogan and Michael Hogan and his husband, Rafael Ramirez; his siblings, Thomas Hogan, William Hogan, Sally Poesch, Sandra Tilton, and Gregory Hogan, and their spouses and children; his sister-in-law, Patti Fennell and her husband; and his many nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews, and members of the extended Hogan family.

A service will be held at 1:00pm on October 13, 2026, at Epiphany Parish in Seattle, Washington.

Memorial gifts may be made in Dennis’s name to the Episcopal Relief & Development fund.