“I felt that if God wanted it to happen, it would happen.”

On July 1, 2002, the University of Dayton found itself operating under a new leader. For the first time in it’s long history, a priest or brother would not be leading the flock. Yet, Dan Curran is not your typical administrator. He is a man that lives his faith and is proud of it. The above quote speaks volumes about the man and what drives him in his journey through life.

Curran had kept his eye on UD for a number of years, knowing what it represented. He knew from afar that it was an organization that was moving in the right direction. But it wasn’t until he got on campus full time that he realized just how lucky he was.

“The Marianists have been so open, so hospitable, so supportive, that any fears I had about being the first lay President disappeared before I got on campus,” Curran said. “I knew that the Marianists would be there for me. They would tell people that ‘if you knew how committed to his faith Dan Curran is, you wouldn’t have to worry.’ This is an institution that is Catholic and expresses values that are important to me. It has a solid academic foundation and an excellent faculty. This is an organization that is moving forward. It is my job to keep it moving in that direction. It wasn’t as if I had to change the course. It was something that I could buy in to right away.”

UD is an institution made up of people and buildings. Each is important in their own way, but there is little doubt where Dan places his feelings. He is a people person through and through. He certainly realizes that structures are important, but he knows that it is the students and faculty that make Dayton great.

“I go to mass in the student center every Sunday night. I have much more interaction with students than I ever did as Executive Vice President at St. Joe’s The UD students have been great with me. They are very direct, they tell you what the issues are. Students tell you the facts. When you sit down with them at dinner, you get a very interesting view of what their perspective is. Students are often very inspirational for me. It is amazing what some of our students are doing here. They have double majors and in their spare time go to India or Guatemala and help the poor.”

It is to that end that drives Curran. It is important to him to keep Dayton great, if only to keep that kind of student spirit alive. He wants them to not only be a part of the future, he wants them to be the future. He uses their input on a number of matters, but their interests in both scholastics and facilities are taken to heart. When they made it clear that a new activity center was needed, he took them to Miami University and other schools to get an idea of what was available.

Like any captain of industry, Curran has a complex mission in mind to continually improve the rather large business that he commands. Like big business, he realizes that he must continually improve the product if he is to keep the customer happy. That will be done through continual improvement of facilities and faculty. Although constantly changing, a plan is in place.

“We want to further establish ourselves as a top 10 Catholic institution. Nationally, we want to be in the top 100 of the U.S. News and World Report of universities, not that we will be doctoral extensive like a Harvard or Stanford. But be at the top of the doctoral intensive category.

“In the next couple of years, we will start a new campaign and a lot of the focus will be on scholarships and faculty initiatives. This will center on the area of academic excellence. We want to increase scholarships not only for academics, but also for service, leadership and faculty. We want to give them more opportunity to do research. This all leads to how we can become stronger academically.”

The view is to make things better, not bigger. It will only be through the improvement of facilities and faculty that UD will be known as a top 100 institution. UD will never be confused with the Ohio State University. Although the University of Dayton is already high on many lists, there is the view that it can be made better.

“The undergraduate enrollment is 6,600 with total enrollment over 10,000. We are not looking to grow the undergraduate population, we like where we are right now. That certainly may fluctuate up or down by 100 students. What we want to focus on is becoming a premier provider of graduate courses, especially at the Master’s level. You talk about Education, Computer Science, and Engineering. We can grow in that area. We have the faculty to do it. It is not adding PhD programs. It is about providing a great education for people that are working. We will still have the doctoral programs for people that want to go into research, but the fact is, there are many more people that want and need education at the Master’s level.”

To continue to be successful, UD must look beyond is figurative four walls. There is no reason that education can only happen in the 45469 zip code. In fact, it doesn’t even need to happen in the United States. The Internet has become more than just a toy for computer heads. It is a tool that has made and destroyed many businesses in the last five years. As an educational tool, it cannot be forgotten. There are several ways that UD will be servicing its clients/students in the future.

“We are looking strategically at satellite campuses. One of the areas that might be of interest to us would be south of Dayton where there has been tremendous growth. If you look at the megalopolis that is growing between Cincinnati and Dayton, that would certainly be of interest. We are also looking internationally pulling students from Europe, students from China in the next year. We are going to link more with industry and do an online program with Delphi in the US Delphi has just agreed to have us educate some of their employees in China. In addition, we are looking, some time in the future, at an off site campus.”

Diversity has been one of the most popular buzzwords circulating in the business world for nearly a decade. Everyone recognizes that it is import to be diverse in not only the way you do business, but who you do business with. The desire to change the look and feel of both the faculty and student body is significant. Much that is learned while a student is not in the classroom. This has not been lost on the UD community.

“Brother Ray, two years ago, set some goals for minority students and we have been able to pass those goals. We feel very good about the number of minority students that are coming into UD. We are very attentive to retaining those students. It is one thing to admit the student and get them to enroll. It is another for them to have a positive experience and have them stay.

“We are doing a lot of work to see how we can entice more minority faculty to come to UD. Retention is also important. If you work hard to get minority and women faculty members, it is important that we create the right environment so that they want to stay. The numbers are up, which is positive.”

One cannot walk around campus, but notice the changes that have taken place in the last ten years. New buildings have sprung up and old buildings have been made to look like new. Although bricks and mortar have yet to teach that first class or help a student with their homework, they do make a difference.

“We need to look at a building for the visual and performing arts, continuing renovations for Science and Business and in particular making space for Engineering which has been such a strong program for many years.”

There is a plan for the University of Dayton in the future and it seems to be in good hands. This was a job that Dan Curran longed for from afar. He is not about to allow anything to get in his way to make the University of Dayton all that it can be. He understands both the secular and religious history of the University. He truly appreciates what the Marianists have done in the 150 years UD has been in existence. It will be one thing that he will carry with him for the rest of his life.

When asked what he wanted to leave behind after his last day leading the University of Dayton, he didn’t blink an eye when he said, “When I leave, I hope that they will say that I did my part to continue what the Marianists started.”