Articles

Syracuse Students, Family, Friends Honor Ray von Dran's Life

University Wire
September 10, 2007 Monday
Byline: By Chelsea Prince, Daily Orange; SOURCE: Syracuse
Length: 1173 words
Dateline: Syracuse, N.Y.

Raymond F. von Dran showed the world how to live meaningfully -- with a little flare.

If he were here today, his expression would be, "Oh shit, I'm dead." Von Dran's foresight of the occasion was retold by his wife, Gisela, who conveyed her husband's nature with comedic gusto.

A combination of tears and laughter filled the oblique rafters at Hendricks Chapel Friday as a rich cross-section of students, family and former peers of von Dran joined in a memorial celebration.

Von Dran's distinctive style of leadership powered by a positive approach turned his life into legacy.

Dean emeritus of the School of Information Studies at Syracuse, von Dran died of heart failure in New York City on July 23. He is survived by his wife, Gisela, and daughter, Beth von Dran.

"Ray was Ray," said interim IST Dean Elizabeth Liddy. "Ray was just a personality and character unto himself that no further explanation is needed."

Von Dran announced his retirement in March 2006, to apply after the 2006-2007 academic year. Von Dran planned an extravagant yearlong sabbatical to explore the world with his wife before coming back to teach at SU.

Though he never had the chance to enjoy the splendors of retirement, his 60 years of abounding achievement, excitement and passion is more than 60 people's lives combined.

Von Dran looked after the iSchool as if it were a familial unit. He was a friend and father to students and faculty. And as obstacles were presented, von Dran had utmost patience to create a faculty of one in order to forge through the day's enigmas, Liddy said.

"Whenever you are in the building, it exudes Ray," Liddy said. "His sense of style, his taste and especially what I value -- his commitment to openness and sharing."

Responsible for IST's top national ranking, seven new IST research centers, numerous awards, renowned faculty and a renovated Hinds Hall, von Dran never did anything halfway, Liddy said.

"In the good times and bad times, both professional and personal, he showed of the good that can be done when you care enough about something to invest your whole heart in it," Liddy said.

When the influence of schools solely devoted to information were in question, "Ray personally visited the editors at U.S News & World Report to tell them a thing or two about what an information school was and how they should go about rating," Liddy said.

Dean David Rubin of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications announced his reflections using von Dran's favorite method -- technology.

Via video message, Rubin reminisced about a particular poker game with Ray and other SU colleagues. Von Dran drained the deep pockets of his competitors, despite his inebriated state and novice player status.

"Play dumb, then skin them alive" was von Dran's motto, Rubin said.

Right to the end, von Dran was living large with his wife -- going to Broadway shows, eating at New York's best restaurants and visiting museums, Rubin said.

"When Gisela was around, Ray was 60 going on 30," Rubin said. "When she walked into the room, Ray's eyes lit up as if he was seeing her for the first time."

The power couple was also in the city during late July to attend a four-night, 18-hour opera at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

They made it through the first two hours before Ray went to the hospital, Rubin said.

And as von Dran's life ended in harmonious melody, his daughter, Beth, sang her father's favorite song, "Imagine," by John Lennon to the Hendricks memorial congregation.

"There was only one Ray. And there hasn't been a day since the day he died that I haven't thought of him, sometimes with a smile, sometimes with a tear," Rubin said. "Today, it's a smile."

Everyone loved to be embraced by von Dran. Whether it was by his welcoming arms or his very personal and inspirational language, he was a magnet force for people of all ages and interests, said IST alumnus David Pimental.

"Ray's words resonate to me, because there is always an underlying enduring message there. It is crystallized in Ray's enthusiasm," he said. "When I focus on his message, I quickly forget that I have anything to feel anxious or nervous about."

Von Dran knew how to create a platinum experience, from nights out on the town to his intellectual work, said former college roommate Charles Wolfe. Wolfe attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison with von Dran.

"I feel very fortunate that I was able to be his close friend for such a long time. That was a blast," Wolfe said. "Nobody deserves to have as much fun as we did."

At age 22, Ray was a type-A energizer bunny who loved to pull all-nighters and speed read Evelyn Woods-style through his piles 19th century French history homework.

"Ray was always courteous and polite, but he never shied away from conflict when believed it would result in progress," Wolfe said.

Years after college, he maintained this same energy and enthusiasm to every relationship and project.

In the year 2000, von Dran brought together a "new gang" of schools centered on information. He was the leading force of this pilot mission, promoting the idea of delivering quality information in novel ways, said Michael Eisenberg, dean emeritus at University of Washington's Information School.

Von Dran once said, "We need more and better information schools. So let's think how we could collaborate better and not compete," said Eisenberg, who still remembers the distinct words from years ago.

His vision was greatly influenced by the information technology progress at Syracuse University in the 1970s and 1980s, so it was only appropriate that von Dran ended up there, Eisenberg said.

Today, there are more than 119 information schools, ever increasing in number.

The information world -- and the world in entirety -- is drastically different because of von Dran's contributions, Eisenberg said.

"He made you better just by being with him," said Duane E. Webster, executive director of Association of Research Libraries. "In many ways he reminds me of a high-octane racing car, always ready for the next race, with engine roaring, or just for touring the countryside in style."

Von Dran had the ability to embrace a totally new environment, Webster said.

"In D.C., his was the ultimate political, perfectly packaged," he said. "In Texas, he suddenly appeared in boots."

Upon transferring to SU, von Dran wore a persistently black outfit to accommodate for New York weather. He was a pioneer, able to transform and adapt to whatever situation or challenge to which he was introduced, Webster said.

But among all, von Dran's life defined that leadership is truly about others, Webster said.

Twelve reflections from school deans and lifelong friends illustrated the dean's humility and pure enjoyment for the simple natures of life during the ceremony. But a host of memories are left on a tribute Web site, ischool.syr.edu/ray, from those whose lives were touched by the life of this one man.

The iSchool conference plans to begin an awards program for originality in information distribution and leadership in name of von Dran.

Load-Date: September 10, 2007
Language: English
Publication-Type: Newspaper