Brother Crescentius Richard, F.S.C., was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

De La Salle Brother french: Frères des Écoles Chrétiennes , image = Signum Fidei.jpg , image_size = 175px , caption = , abbreviation = FSC , nickname = Lasallians , named_after = , formation ...

who was instrumental in the transformation of De La Salle University in the Philippines into a pillar of Philippine education.De La Salle University-Manila. (2005). ''Conferment''. Manila: DLSU Press. He was President of De La Salle University from 1961 to 1966 and was named its President Emeritus in 1981.

Early life

He was born Richard Henry Duerr in 1922 in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, the third of four children. He studied at St. James Diocesan High School in Loughlin and St. Joseph's Normal Institute in

Barrytown, New York Barrytown is a hamlet (and census-designated place) within the town of Red Hook in Dutchess County, New York, United States. It is within the Hudson River Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, and contains four notable Hudson River V ...

, graduating

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

from both schools. In 1935, at the age of 13, he entered the junior novitiate of the Christian Brothers in New York and began his

postulancy A postulant (from la, postulare, to ask) was originally one who makes a request or demand; hence, a candidate. The use of the term is now generally restricted to those asking for admission into a Christian monastery or a religious order for the p ...

on June 26, 1936. On September 7, 1936, he received the religious habit and was given the religious name Crescentius Richard. In 1941,

Brother A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

Duerr earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

, with major in Chemistry and a minor in

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

, from

The Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

and in 1948, he received his

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from Fordham University.

Early career

Upon Duerr's graduation from the Catholic University of America, he began a career of teaching. He spent the first 12 years of that career in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, handling a variety of students, from fifth graders at Saint Mary's Parochial School in New York to the college students of the Manhattan College or La Salle College, teaching

General Chemistry General chemistry (sometimes referred to as "gen chem") is offered by colleges and universities as an introductory level chemistry course usually taken by students during their first year. The course is usually run with a concurrent lab section tha ...

, Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis, College Mathematics, and the

General Science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

, among others.

Assignment to the Philippines

In 1953 Duerr volunteered for mission service and was assigned to the Philippines, being first posted to De La Salle College. He was assigned to La Salle Academy-Iligan in 1958, the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod in 1969, and

La Salle Green Hills La Salle Green Hills ("LSGH") is a private Catholic School, Catholic school run by the De La Salle Brothers Philippines, Philippine District of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools in Ortigas Avenue, Mandaluyong, Metro Manila ...

in 1980.

Presidency of De La Salle College

In 1961, Duerr was appointed President of De La Salle College. During his term, he was instrumental in accomplishing the College's post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

growth including the conferment of academic accreditations upon the College. He also institutionalized the use of modern management techniques such as educational planning and budgeting to promote efficiency and initiated the formation of a board of trustees and the incorporation of the school as a non-stock, non-profit corporation. During his term, he also oversaw the construction of De La Salle University's William Hall. On July 17, 1981, in recognition of his contributions to the growth of the Lasallian schools in the Philippines, Br. Richard was conferred the title of ''President Emeritus'' by De La Salle University.

Return to the United States

In 1984, after his stint at La Salle Green Hills, Duerr chose to settle down to

Lincroft, New Jersey Lincroft is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) within Middletown Township, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States.

. He was thus assigned to the Christian Brothers Provincialate in Lincroft in 1984 to De La Salle Hall in 1987 and to the Christian Brothers Academy in 1992. In 2001, he was again posted at De La Salle Hall, where he stayed until his death on June 18, 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duerr, Richard Henry 1922 births 2005 deaths People from Brooklyn Roman Catholic religious brothers Catholic University of America alumni Fordham University alumni Manhattan College faculty American Roman Catholic missionaries American expatriates in the Philippines De La Salle Brothers in the Philippines Academic staff of De La Salle University Presidents of De La Salle University Burials in New Jersey Presidents of universities and colleges in the Philippines Roman Catholic missionaries in the Philippines Catholics from New York (state)