University of Dayton presidents
1. Father Leo Meyer 1850-1857
2. Bro. John Stintzi 1857-1860
3. Bro. Maximin Zehler 1860-1876
4. Rev. Francis Feith 1876-1879
5. Rev. George Meyer 1879-1887
6. Rev. John Harks 1887-1889
7. Rev. Joseph Weckesser 1889-1896
8. Rev. Charles Eichner 1896-1902
9. Rev. Louis Tragesser 1902-1908
10. Rev. Bernard O’Reilly 1908-1918, 1923-1932
11. Rev. Joseph Tetzlaff 1918-1923
12. Rev. Walter C. Tredtin 1932-1938
13. Rev. John A. Elbert 1938-1944
14. Rev. George J. Renneker 1944-1953
15. Rev. Andrew L. Seebold 1953-1959
16. Rev. Raymond A. Roesch 1959-1979
17. Bro. Raymond Fitz 1979-2002
18. Daniel J. Curran 2002-
Source: University of Dayton
University of Dayton President Daniel J. Curran has overseen a period of unprecedented growth at the school, nearly doubling its endowment, assets and acreage, and transforming both the campus and much of the surrounding south Dayton community during his 12 years as the institution’s leader.
Curran announced Tuesday he will step down in June 2016, a year before his contract expires, saying this was “a really good time for a transition” because of the university’s financial and academic strength.
A sociologist by training, Curran will take a one-year sabbatical before returning to UD as professor. As president emeritus, he will serve as executive-in-residence for Asian affairs at the UD China Institute in Suzhou, China.
“In an ideal world, I would be teaching one semester in China,” where he also would work to nurture the university’s relationships and programs on behalf of the incoming president, Curran said in an interview with the Dayton Daily News “In the second semester, being here on campus teaching and doing research,” he said.
UD’s board of trustees will launch a national search for Curran’s replacement, a process that should take about a year, said Steve Cobb, chairman of Preble County-based restaurant equipment maker Henny Penny and chairman of UD’s board of trustees.
Curran, 64, was named the first lay president of the Catholic, Marianist private university in 2002. All previous UD presidents were Marianist priests or brothers.
During his 12-year tenure to date, UD’s endowment more than doubled from $254 million to $518 million; total assets rose from $770 million to $1.4 billion; international enrollment jumped from 42 to 1,807 students; and the average ACT score of entering freshmen rose from 24.7 to 26.8.
Under Curran, the university bought the nearby land and headquarters of NCR Corp., which moved out of state in 2009, expanding UD’s footprint to 388 acres from 212 acres in 2002.
The university has parlayed those purchases into an economic development success story through corporate partnerships.
Last year, General Electric Aviation opened its $53 million research center — the GE EPISCenter — on former NCR land, and Midmark Corp. moved its corporate headquarters into NCR’s former headquarters. In October, Emerson Climate Technologies broke ground for a $35 million global innovation center on campus.
The former NCR headquarters building at 1700 S. Patterson Blvd. is now home to the UD Research Institute. Sponsored research at UD has increased to $86.4 million from $47.5 million in 2002.
Boosting enrollment
Phil Parker, president and chief executive of the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce and a UD alumnus, said Curran’s strongest impact has been felt on campus, where he boosted enrollment, improved the campus physical infrastructure, expanded the boundaries of the campus and boosted the academic quality and diversity of the student body.
“But people should also realize he has been a true leader in the support and development of the area surrounding the university, the south Dayton area,” Parker said. “He has been extremely visible in key business initiatives in the community, and I hope he continues to play such an active role in UD and its progress.”
Curran acknowledged the expansion of UD’s “landlocked” historical campus and subsequent development of former NCR buildings and property are the most visible aspects of his legacy as president.
“I think it was very important for the community. What I’m really happy about is it’s a plan we developed as a university, and stayed committed to the economic development of that region,” Curran said.
Beth Keyes, UD vice president for facilities management, said her department has seen a “whirlwind of great activity” during Curran’s tenure.
Prior to the NCR property acquisitions in 2005 and 2009, most of facilities management’s efforts were focused on improving student life, Keyes said. Construction boomed with an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars of private funds into new and renovated residential and academic facilities, as well as a 125,000-square-foot campus recreation complex.
“It has been totally student — either in the classroom or in their living — focused. That has been his drive. I put our student facilities up against anybody’s in terms of their quality and what they have to offer,” Keyes said.
UD’s first-year applications have doubled under Curran, with total enrollment climbing to 11,368 this year from 10,125 in 2002. That has allowed the university to be come more selective; its acceptance rate is now 59.1 percent, compared to 84.3 percent in 2002.
Difficult times
But Curran’s tenure was not without difficulties and controversies.
UD’s image took multiple hits in early 2013 with a tumultuous series of events, from a mob scene on St. Patrick’s Day to two incidents of first-year students falling from sixth-floor dorm windows.
One of the students, 18-year-old Larry Cook, died from his injuries. His death was ruled a suicide by the Montgomery County coroner, but his family disputed that ruling. Family members claimed the university was premature to declare the teen’s death a suicide, and that the haste may have compromised the investigation.
In the St. Patrick’s Day incident, more than 1,000 people caused police from 10 local jurisdictions to respond to UD’s student campus housing area, also known as the ghetto, for a “disturbance” that left hundreds of broken beer bottles in the street and yards and 11 damaged cars, including a police cruiser.
Earlier this year, UD’s provost, Joseph Saliba, completed a five-year term and left that position after a majority of faculty members voted “no confidence” in the university’s second-in-command. Saliba had held the position since 2009.
But some faculty members said at the time that their concerns went beyond just a single administrator to encompass Curran’s forceful approach to managing the university, which they said was more business-oriented and less collaborative than that of Curran’s predecessor, Bro. Raymond Fitz.
Curran said Saliba’s departure wasn’t a factor in his decision to step down, which he had discussed for a number of months with UD’s board chairman.
“Paul Benson has stepped into that position (as interim provost). We’ve worked and the relationship with the faculty is great, and I feel real comfortable,” Curran said.
Long distance relationship
Claire M. Renzetti, Curran’s wife and a fellow sociologist with whom he’s co-authored a number of books, is the Judi Conway Patton Endowed Chair for Studies of Violence Against Women at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. She also serves as that school’s Sociology department chair.
Curran said his long-distance relationship with Renzetti did play a “minor role” in his decision.
“We certainly travel a lot, both of us. Claire gives lectures all around the world. She has made most of the trips up to Dayton. In fact, I’ve made very few trips to Lexington, and I think it’s about time I be taking my turn at taking the trips down to Lexington. I think that is very important for both of us,” he said.
Curran and his wife have two sons, Sean and Aidan.
A Philadelphia native, Curran spent the first 23 years of his academic career at St. Joseph’s University in his hometown. He worked his way up to become vice president for academic affairs of the private, Catholic university that was founded by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1851 — one year after the Marianists founded the predecessor school to UD.
When UD first launched its presidential search in 2001, Curran did not apply because of his Saint Joseph’s duties, and because his family had just moved into a new house. But he said he felt a pang of regret when the first round of finalists was named. But that initial search ended in failure, producing two finalists that UD faculty and students declared unqualified.
When the search was reopened, Curran was invited to apply and came to Dayton to determine whether he was interested. Then-President Bro. Raymond Fitz said at the time that he “had to work pretty hard to sell (Curran) on the idea” of applying for the job,” but said Curran had “the insight and the energy and the enthusiasm to make the bold moves” necessary to continue UD’s march toward becoming a national leader in Catholic higher education.
Next president
As the focus shifts in 2015 to the search for Curran’s successor, Parker said, “I hope they do as good of a job of finding the next president as they did in finding and securing him.”
Anne Eiting Klamar, Midmark president and chief executive, and a UD board member, said a presidential search committee has not yet been formed.
“I can state with a lot of certainty that Dan is going to leave big shoes to fill,” Klamar said.
Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley called Curran “the best economic development person we’ve had in the region,” crediting him for bringing new jobs to Dayton through the GE Aviation, Emerson Climate Technologies and Midmark partnerships.
Curran hopes to continue playing a role in Dayton’s economic growth after he steps down, but doesn’t see himself taking a formal position with an organization such as the Dayton Development Coalition. Instead, he could tout the region’s higher education assets to corporations that are considering relocating to the area.
“I really want to play a role in the Dayton community. This is where I am going to live,” Curran said.
Curran cited the example of his predecessor, Bro. Raymond Fitz, who has continued to make a “significant contribution” both on and off UD’s campus to the greater Dayton region.
“Any way I can be helpful — be it with the city, the county, the Dayton Development Coalition, the chamber — if they reach out to Dan Curran and I can be helpful, I’m going to be there for the Dayton region,” he said.
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