Herbert Deinert, professor emeritus of German studies, died Aug. 4 at Cayuga Medical Center. He was 79. He was a noted scholar of German literature and intellectual history.

Born in 1930 in Wiedenbrueck, Germany, Deinert studied at a Franciscan school after World War II and entered the University of Münster to study literature, taking every other semester off to work in a furniture factory to support his studies. He moved to Olean, N.Y., at the invitation of the director of the Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure University; taught high school in Buffalo for a year while working nights at a steel mill; and then joined Yale University as a teaching assistant while he completed his Ph.D. He served on the faculties of the University of Georgia and Duke University before coming to Cornell in 1965.

Deinert's early work focused on such German literary figures as Rilke, Goethe, Hesse, Kafka and Brecht; more recently, he wrote on the influence of Protestantism in Germany following the fall of the Berlin Wall.

His academic life centered on sharing his insights and his love of literature, music and art with his students, through teaching, friendship and mentoring. He was also known as a gentle satirist of academic politics and everyday life, writing parables, essays and commentaries for the Cornell Daily Sun and the Ithaca Journal.

Deinert served as chair of Cornell's Department of German Studies and as director of both undergraduate and graduate studies in German. He held various positions, including president, with the American Association of Teachers of German, Central New York chapter. From 1960 to 1968, he was a panelist and consultant for the National Endowment for the Humanities and director and professor of the Berlin branch of the Classrooms Abroad summer program.

He retired from active teaching in 2004 but continued as coordinator of the Cornell Exchange Programs with German universities and the DAAD program, giving Cornell students fellowship opportunities to study in German.

He is survived by his wife, Waltraut Deinert, two children and two sisters.

A memorial service will be held in Ithaca at a later date. Contributions in Deinert's name can be made to the Ithaca Salvation Army or a charity of the donor's choice.