Beloved by generations of students and alumni who know him as “Dr. D,” the university’s president emeritus on April 2 will share stories and reflections of his seven decades at Elon and his hopes for its future. Tickets are now available at the Center for the Arts Box Office and are $13 each or free with an Elon ID.
Spring Convocation
April 2, 3:30 p.m.
Alumni Gym
A Conversation with President Emeritus J. Earl Danieley ’46
Tickets will be $13 or free with an Elon ID. Tickets go on sale March 12 at the university’s Center for the Arts Box Office.
Spring Convocation also will be streamed live to computers with a broadband connection.
As part of Elon’s 125th anniversary celebration, Earl Danieley will share personal stories and reflections on his 72-year association with the university as a student, professor of chemistry, dean of the college, and president. Danieley was named Elon’s sixth president in 1957 at age 32, making him one of the youngest college presidents in the nation at the time. As president, he put in place the building blocks for the modern Elon by racially integrating the campus, establishing early study abroad programs and the 4-1-4 academic calendar, increasing fundraising, growing enrollment and adding new buildings.
As only he can do, Danieley will reflect on key moments in Elon’s history, his love for learning and his hopes for the university’s future.
A native of Alamance County and 1946 graduate of Elon, Danieley received graduate degrees in organic chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and conducted post-doctoral research at Johns Hopkins University. Beginning his career as a chemistry instructor at Elon, Danieley served from 1953 to 1956 as dean of the college before being named president of Elon in 1957. He stepped down in 1973 to dedicate the next years of his life to teaching.
Danieley has been the Thomas E. Powell Jr. Professor of Chemistry since 1982. He was elected to the University of North Carolina Board of Governors in 1983 and served in that capacity for 12 years. In 1987, Danieley agreed to reduce his teaching hours in order to serve as Elon’s director of planned giving in the development office, a position he held until 1992. In that year he was named president emeritus of the college.
In addition, a set of collectible cards with highlights of Elon history was distributed to all members of the community throughout the fall semester at the university’s weekly College Coffees. For more details, visit a special website designed for the anniversary: www.elon.edu/125.