Curran’s impact
Dr. Daniel Curran announced Tuesday that he is stepping down at president at the University of Dayton in 2016. How UD changed during Curran’s tenure, which began in 2002:
Category………2002……….2014
Endowment…..$254 million…..$518 million
Total assets……$770 million…..$1.4 billion
Undergrad applications…..7,496…..16,921
Acceptance rate…..84.3 percent…..59.1 percent
ACT of entering class…..24.7…..26.8
Out-of-state enrollment (1st-year class)…..45 percent…..64 percent
International enrollment…..42….1,807
Total enrollment…..10,125…..11,368
Full-time faculty…..449…..526
Acreage…..212…..388
Sponsored research…..$47.5 million…..$86.4 million
University of Dayton President Dan Curran will step down in June 2016, a year before his contract expires, to return to teaching and focus on the university’s China initiative, he announced on Tuesday.
“I think it’s a really good time for a transition,” Curran said. “The university is really in a great position — with our incoming class, our financial situation. I think we’ll be able to attract in an outstanding president.”
He said he is leaving because it is the right time.
Curran, 64, was named the first lay president of UD, a Catholic, Marianist private university in 2002. His total compensation was $732,881 in 2012, according to UD’s federal forms. University officials would not release current salary information except to say it includes a housing allowance.
The 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 the board and of Henny Penny.
“I’m just grateful for Dan’s leadership,” said Cobb. “We’ve got a lot of good momentum. We are at a very good place right now.”
Cobb said it is up to Curran how long he wants to stay as president and the board won’t need to vote to allow him out of his contract.
Curran who was trained as a sociologist, will take a one-year sabbatical before returning to UD as professor. He plans to conduct research, be executive-in-residence for Asian affairs at the UD China Institute in Suzhou, China, and assist the new president in any way he is asked.
Community leaders hailed Curran’s tenure at the helm of UD. Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley said she will be sad to see him step down.
“He’s been just a great leader and a great partner for us in the city of Dayton” Whaley said.”His work on development and the way that he’s transformed southern downtown has been fantastic.”
During Curran’s tenure the university bought the nearby land and headquarters of NCR, which moved out of state in 2009, and has parlayed that purchase 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. This year Emerson Climate Technologies broke ground for a $35 million global innovation center on campus.
“I’m really grateful for his leadership because he’s helped us get moving in the post-NCR economy,” said Montgomery County Commission President Dan Foley.
Curran “aggressively pushed his team to develop a winning proposal for us to locate on the UD campus,” said Vic Bonneau, president of Electrical Power Systems for GE Aviation.
Bonneau said Curran helped establish GE’s partnership with UD’s Research Institute and worked “to align city, county and state organizations and find a way to meet our strategic and technical needs for such a facility. Dr. Curran’s leadership helped us to go from concept to completed project on time and within budget.”
Jeff Hoagland, a UD grad who also is chief executive of the Dayton Development Coalition, said Curran “has done an amazing job with students, with faculty” and in “changing the landscape of the Dayton region.”
“I admire his contributions in growing the region and its quality of life, and the partnerships we have created together that are paying off in positive ways,” said Wright State University President David R. Hopkins.
UD’s endowment doubled
During Curran’s tenure UD’s endowment more than doubled to $518 million. It also doubled its assets, the number of endowed faculty positions, undergraduate applications and the value of its land and buildings, according to a university news release. At the same time tuition also more than doubled, to $37,230 annually from $18,000 in 2002. The university more than tripled the scholarships and grants it gives students and launched a pioneering tuition guarantee that lets students know in advance what their four-year education will cost them.
The university, which has 11,368 students, also dramatically increased the number of international students to 1,807 from 42 when Curran took office and increased the percentage of out-of-state students it accepted.
“At the beginning of my tenure, the university saw a looming problem in Ohio’s pipeline of high school students, and we made a conscious shift to increase the geo-diversity of the student population,” Curran said last summer. “Today, the University enrolls more students from outside Ohio than from around the state. We continue to read the signs of the times and are prepared for the continuing decline expected in Ohio beyond 2018.”
Curran was a big backer of UD sports. He sits center court for basketball games at UD Arena when he’s in town and was in charge when the university hired two successful men’s basketball coaches – Brian Gregory and Archie Miller.
Last year UD’s mens basketball team made it to the Elite Eight in the NCAA basketball tournament.
During Curran’s tenure, UD became the first – and so far, only – host of the First Four, two days of basketball that tip off the NCAA men’s tournament. He also was a member of the NCAA’s Division I board of directors from 2004-2008, helping with academic reforms designed to improve the graduation rates of college athletes.
Football coach Rick Chamberlin said Curran “has a passion for athletics” and recalled some timely support he received from his president.
“My first year as a head coach, we were out playing in San Diego,” Chamberlin said. “I was a little upset with the officiating, as any coach might be on the road. We were fortunate enough to win. Dr. Curran was there. On Monday, I get a phone call from Dr. Curran. He said, ‘I just wanted to tell you, you had more patience with those officials than I did.’
“That shows he has a passion for athletics. He was nothing but a great influence on the athletic programs. He’s at the basketball games. He’s at the football games, too. He’s not up in the stands. He’s down on the sidelines. He wants to be close to the action.”
Staff writers Brian Kollars and Dave Jablonski contributed to this report.
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