He’s the kind of guy that walks into a room and people notice. He is tall, dark and handsome although not too tall or handsome to be intimidating. He looks younger than his years and he knows how to work a room. He has the vocabulary of a scholar and the ability to relate to people like Sheriff Andy Taylor in the town of Mayberry. He has more degrees than a thermometer, yet he just wants to be known as “Dan.” This is not your average Joe.

Dr. Daniel J. Curran became the first lay person to be named President of the University of Dayton on July 1, 2002. He is a man that comes to UD with an extensive background in education having risen through the ranks while at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. He loved St. Joseph’s but always had his eye on UD as a place he would like to land. Yet, it was a long journey, one that for a while didn’t look possible.

Curran, the oldest of three children, grew up going to Catholic schools in the suburbs of Philadelphia. His father (Dan Sr.) was a truck driver and his mother (Nancy) stayed home to raise the kids. Although his interaction with his father was often limited to the weekends, there was a close bond formed that remains even after his father’s death. Although his parents weren’t fortunate enough to attend college, the importance of education was not lost on the elder Currans.

“My father worked long hours. He was up before we were up and always worked late. He was a great guy. He was second generation Irish. He had a great work ethic that he passed on to his children. He probably had a bigger impact on me than I ever would have thought. It was very important to my parents that we all got a college education. During that time, there were far fewer people that their parents had gone to college. There was no one to fall back on. Now we have students that are the second, third or fourth generation that are college educated. My parents knew that they wanted me to go to college, they just didn’t know what it was about.”

It was the senior Curran’s work ethic that has probably made the biggest difference in Dan’s life. It wasn’t just the hours that he spent on his job; it was also the rigor that he put into his every waking moment. There are only so many hours in each day, but it was important to Dan Sr. that quality time was spent with his children before anyone even knew what quality time was.

“When my dad was around, he was very involved. He coached me in little league. We didn’t see him much during the week, but on the weekends he was always around. He did a good job of making quality time available to us. He worked just as hard on the weekends to be with us as he worked at his job during the week. It has helped me realize how important spending time with my family is. He would have liked to spend more time with us, but coming from a working class family that was the reality.”

A Catholic education was significant in the Curran household. Their strong Catholic background and the belief that the educational system was far superior led Dan through 12 years of Catholic elementary and high school. After graduating from Cardinal O’Hara a huge high school in Philadelphia, it was time for the college education that his parents weren’t fortunate enough to receive.

Curran limited his search for higher education to the Philadelphia area. Although it was limited to one metropolitan area, it was not going to be limited to just one major.

“I applied to LaSalle for math, Villanova for Engineering, St. Joe’s for Marketing and Drexel for Engineering. I ended up going to St. Joseph’s and had a great experience there. I switched to Sociology while I was there.”

Upon graduation from St. Joe’s he worked for two years for a packaging firm [Peace Products] in Sales Management. Dan quickly decided that more education was going to be necessary for him to get where he wanted to go. While employed at Peace, he went to Temple to begin working on his Master’s degree. After completing his studies at Temple it was on to the University of Delaware to begin his Doctorate. It was during his time at Delaware and his time spent in the classroom with students that he really began to change his view of what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

“I was very much a numbers guy. Even in my doctoral program, I took more computer courses than anyone else. Up until that experience in the classroom, I thought that I would end up in research. I was looking at doing survey research and statistical analysis and hoping to make an impact dealing with poverty issues and inequity issues. That is where I eventually became interested in teaching. I always saw myself going to Washington and doing social policy research. The first time I taught I ended up really loving it.”

Curran returned to St. Joseph’s in 1979 as a faculty member in the sociology department. He quickly began his rise to the top and became chair in 1988. Before coming to UD, Curran had risen to the level of Vice President.

His work as an administrator did not take its toll on his ability to publish. An accomplished author, he published seven books in nine years, many of which he co-authored with his wife, Claire Renzetti, chair of the sociology department at St. Joseph’s.

Yet, despite his successes both as an administrator at St. Joseph’s and as an author, Curran was looking for more. Even though he loved what he did at St. Joe’s, like many in his shoes, Curran put together a short list of jobs he would like. That list included the University of Dayton. As luck would have it, Brother Ray Fitz had announced his retirement as President. It appeared as though all of the planets had aligned for Dan, but this wasn’t going to be easy.

Because of personal and professional reasons, Curran did not apply for the position initially, even though UD had shown some interest. It wasn’t until UD had decided that the first three candidates did not meet their expectations that a second window opened for Curran. It was only then that he felt that he could leave St. Joseph’s if the opportunity arose. For UD, it was a year long process, for Dan it was a whirlwind two months.

“I wasn’t in the first phase of the search,” Curran said. “UD was one of the schools I had kept my eye on. When I heard that they had narrowed down the search to three finalists, it was hard for me, because I realized that I would never have that opportunity again. The job does not turn over that quickly and I would probably be too old in ten years. When it opened up again and I came here, Brother Ray impressed me so much. Sitting with him three times in that two day period, I was very impressed. He always puts the community first.

“When I sat with him, it wasn’t about what Brother Ray Fitz did, it was what the UD community did. That impressed both myself and my wife. Bro. Ray’s ideology permeated the entire organization. Here is a person that had been extremely successful over 23 years. All I saw was support, a love of the institution and it was clear that he wanted me to be successful.”

The one thing that Dan had to take into consideration that no other UD President had to worry about was the feelings of his family. His wife, Claire, was the chair of the Sociology department at St. Joseph’s. His two sons were on the verge of entering high school and had a lifetime of friends that they would be leaving behind in Philadelphia. Even though this was turning into a dream job for Curran, he needed input from the rest of the Curran clan.

“When I was talking to all of the administrators, they took my two sons, Sean and Aidan, to the Arena. They were recruiting them, too. St. Joe’s seats about 3,500. They came back and said ‘Dad, this is big time!’ Both of my sons are so invested in Dayton now. I remember talking to Claire on the plane on the trip back and she told me that UD was the right place for me. There was a certain compatibility. It was an easy choice.”