The University of Iowa Department of History will hold a memorial service at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4, for visiting assistant professor Jacob Dean Hall, 39, who died Jan. 29 at his home in Iowa City.

The service will be held in the Old Capitol Senate Chambers and the public is invited.

Hall taught classes in the history of poverty, U.S. public policy and modern Latin America. He received his doctoral degree in history at the UI in December 2013. Mentored by Professor Emeritus Shel Stromquist, his dissertation was a path-breaking work on the historical roots of Detroit’s urban crisis titled “Myth of the Motor City: Urban Politics, Public Policy, and the Suburbanization of Detroit's Automobile Industry, 1878-1937.”

Professor Stephen Vlastos, chair of the Department of History in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, expressed the department’s grief.

“The Department of History faculty, staff, students and alumni mourn the passing of our friend and colleague, Jacob Dean Hall,” Vlastos said. “Jake was loved by all who had the privilege of knowing him and esteemed as a scholar and teacher. At the time of his death Jake was beginning his professional career as a visiting assistant professor in the Department of History. A scholar of great promise and a dedicated teacher, Jake will be remembered for his kindness, friendliness and generous spirit. His loss deeply touches all who knew him.”