Donald Newton Dedmon (August 13, 1931 – February 13, 1998) was an American academic administrator and communications consultant.

Early life and education

Dedmon was born in Wright County, Missouri, and received his undergraduate degree English and speech from Southwest Missouri State College (now

Missouri State University Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...

) in 1953, and taught high school before earning a Master of Arts degree in speech in 1956 and a PhD in oral education from the University of Iowa in 1961.

Career

He taught at

Saint Cloud State College St. Cloud State University (SCSU) is a public university in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Founded in 1869, the university is one of the largest institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. Its enrollment in 2020 was approximatel ...

, in

St. Cloud, Minnesota St. Cloud is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 68,881 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's 12th-largest city. St. Cloud is the county seat of Stear ...

, from 1959 to 1962 and at Southern Illinois University, in

Carbondale, Illinois Carbondale is a city in Jackson and Williamson Counties, Illinois, United States, within the Southern Illinois region informally known as "Little Egypt". The city developed from 1853 because of the stimulation of railroad construction into the ...

from 1962 to 1964. He later became chair of the Department of Speech at

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

. From 1966 to 1968, he served as a communications consultant for pharmaceutical company Smith, Kline & French. Dedmon became the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Marshall University in 1968, and was appointed executive vice president the following year, becoming acting president of the University in 1970. In this role, he led the campus through the November 14, 1970, plane crash in which 37 members of the Marshall University Thundering Herd

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team, eight members of the coaching staff, and 25 school boosters were killed. The team was returning home after a 17-14 loss against the

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university, public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a Normal school, teacher training school, East ...

Pirates at Ficklen Stadium in

Greenville, North Carolina Greenville is the county seat of and the most populous city in Pitt County, North Carolina, Pitt County, North Carolina, United States; the principal city of the Greenville, North Carolina metropolitan area, Greenville metropolitan area; and th ...

.Withers, Bob. "The story of the 1970 Marshall Plane Crash." 19 Dec. 2006 Herald-Dispatch untington 19 Dec. 200

Dedmon was portrayed by David Strathairn in the movie '' We Are Marshall,'' which details the aftermath of the crash and its effect on the school community. Dedmon became president of

Radford University Radford University is a public university in Radford, Virginia. It is one of the state's eight doctorate-granting public universities. Founded in 1910, Radford offers curricula for undergraduates in more than 100 fields, graduate programs inclu ...

on March 20, 1972, and served for more than twenty years, during which time the University experienced rapid growth and a major transition from a small women's college to a co-ed institution, before reaching university status in 1979. The enrollment tripled during his tenure. Dedmon spent much of the early 1990s away from Radford University on

sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work. The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Biblical practice of ''shmita'' (sabbatical year), which is related to agriculture. According to ...

in Hawaii and later on medical leave during a lengthy recovery from a ruptured spleen. Due to ill health Dedmon announced his retirement from Radford University in June 1994, but officially held the presidency while on medical leave until August 1995. His last public appearance at Radford University was in September 1995, when he spoke at the inauguration of his successor, Douglas Covington. The Dedmon Center at Radford University was named in his honor. The 58,000-square-foot athletic center opened in 1981 and was renovated in 2009. In 2018, Dedmon was posthumously inducted in the

Athletics Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Dedmon married Geraldine Mary Sanders, a native of Canada in 1957. They had two daughters. After retiring from Radford University, Dedmon moved to

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

where he spent the remainder of his life. He died in Naples, Florida in 1998 at the age of 66.

References

External links

Radford University Archives

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dedmon, Donald 1931 births 1998 deaths Presidents of Radford University Colorado State University faculty University of Iowa alumni People from Missouri Presidents of Marshall University 20th-century American academics