Former UD president needs liver transplant

A former University of Dayton president is in need of a liver transplant.

Dan Curran is “receiving excellent care at one of the best transplant centers in the country,” right now, current UD president Eric Spina said in an email to faculty, staff and students today. Curran has suffered from liver disease for around a decade, Spina said in the email.

The university declined to share any more information about Curran but Spina said he would be in touch with the former president and when appropriate, he would make the community aware of any changes in his health. Curran’s family declined to comment for this story.

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Spina asked the campus community to send cards for Curran to Albert Emanuel Hall on campus and emails for him to the address President18@udayton.edu. Messages will be aggregated and sent to Curran, Spina wrote.

“Dan Curran feels a deep and profound affection for the University of Dayton and each member of our community,” Spina wrote in the email. “I ask you all to join me now in returning that deep affection with your thoughts and prayers for Dr. Dan and his family.”

Spina also encouraged students, faculty and staff to learn more about organ donation by visiting OrganDonor.gov.

“Most importantly, please join me in praying for God’s healing grace to be bestowed upon Dr. Dan, and for his and his family’s peace of mind and comfort,” Spina said in his email.

Curran served as president for 14 years at UD and retired in the summer of 2016. After his retirement, Curran continued to teach, served as UD’s president emeritus and as an executive in residence for Asian affairs for UD’s China Institute in Suzhou, China, according to the university.

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In January, the university announced that it would rename the property once home to NCR’s world headquarters in honor of the former president.

The property, at 1700 S. Patterson, was dubbed the Daniel J. Curran Place by the university’s board of trustees. The former NCR world headquarters is now home to the college’s research institute, UDRI.

Curran oversaw the purchase of the 164 acres of land from NCR between 2005 and 2009. The purchases nearly doubled UD’s physical footprint and helped the university attract the $51-million GE Aviation EPISCenter and the $35-million Emerson Helix Innovation Center, according to the school.

“So much of what goes on in that building is emblematic of the university’s innovative and entrepreneurial spirit,” Curran said at the time. “We have a world-class research institute, and it’s now in a world-class facility. The move allowed for the terrific growth we’ve experienced in research.”

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