The Daily Orange

In the spring of 2006, School of Information Studies Dean Raymond von Dran announced his retirement to newly appointed Vice Chancellor Eric Spina in an unusual way:

A monkeygram.

"There was this monkey wearing a Hawaiian shirt and drinking a piña colada and the message was, 'hey boss, I quit,'" said Spina, former dean of the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science. "Even though we knew he wasn't going to be dean anymore, not having that sense of optimism and positivity with us is a real loss."

Syracuse University lost a leader this summer with the passing of the honored and respected von Dran. He died July 23 at age 60 in New York City after contracting pneumonia.

He had just stepped down from the deanship in the spring and had planned a year-long trip around the world with his wife Gisela, a former IST assistant professor who also retired in the spring.

"He made the iSchool much more of a central part of the university," Spina said. "In terms of being a leader and empowering the faculty, Ray was really one of the best."

IST increases

Von Dran's 12-year tenure at IST is marked by overwhelming increases in faculty and student growth. This year, U.S. News and World Report ranked IST the nation's No. 1 college for the Master of Science program in information management.

"He made us known nationally as an iSchool," said Bruce Kingma, associate provost for entrepreneurship and innovation. Kingma served as associate dean to von Dran since 2000.

"Ray was really energetic and creative in developing partnerships with other academic institutions, with foundations across the country and around the world," Spina said.

Von Dran was key in building the school's national reputation, Kingma said.

The school "was always trying to prove itself," he said, "and it really proved itself under Ray von Dran."

Von Dran's tenure at the college paralleled the importance and growth of the Internet and personal computing, Kingma said.

"Obviously the information age has provided the opportunity to really connect the iSchool to a lot of different schools and colleges and initiatives within the university," Spina said.

Besides the academic growth of IST, von Dran added a sense of personality witnessed by those around him on a daily basis.

"He was the kind of dean who would walk down the halls and sit in the faculty office," Kingma said. "Whoever had a door open, he would sit down and talk to."

Von Dran was a mentor to both newcomers and senior faculty members, Spina said. He would often give advice and perspective on their personal careers.

Kingma described von Dran as "a fun person to be around" and "always up."

"He was always positive, always trying to think of ways to move us ahead," Spina said.

'Faculty of one'

An amiable and optimistic nature led von Dran to establish the cultural idea of a "faculty of one" within the college, an idea that unified and strengthened the identity of the IST members.

Kingma described the "faculty of one" idea as a culture von Dran built. "Everybody has extreme value in the organization," he said.

"The school and the faculty really feel strong ownership of the school and its direction," Spina said of the school under von Dran's leadership.

Remembrance Web site

After von Dran's passing, the school set up a remembrance Web site for students, faculty, alumni and friends to leave comments about von Dran and his personal inspiration. A link to the site is on the IST homepage.

More than 50 pages of comments have been posted to the site so far.

Chancellor Emeritus Kenneth "Buzz" Shaw said von Dran loved being around people and "saw their good side."

"I count him as a friend, a colleague - a person I could count on," Shaw wrote. "On top of all of this, Ray was an innovator. We will not forget Ray. His achievements and his example will live on."

Interim Dean of IST Elizabeth Liddy left her remarks with a message of hope for the future of the college after what von Dran established.

"Ray had prepared so well to ensure that whomever was next in the Dean's chair was well prepared to lead the school," Liddy wrote. "As many other acts, this conveyed Ray's love and care of our school. I will miss him terribly. We will all go forth to make him proud of what he created."

The comments extended beyond the SU campus community, with messages of reverence from the University of Michigan School of Information, Touro University International, University of Illinois, University of Alabama, Queensland University of Technology and others.

Professors, students and colleagues from Switzerland to Australia logged on to leave inspiring anecdotes and globally mourn the loss of an influential leader.

Sandi Mulconry, former associate vice president for university communications, called von Dran "the Real McCoy."

"Other will succeed him, but no one will ever replace him," she wrote.

A memorial service for von Dran will be held on Sept. 7 at 4:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel.

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