President Emeritus J. Earl Danieley, a 1946 graduate and a staff member for 57 years, will deliver the commencement address at Elon University Saturday, May 22. Details...
Danieley, 79, who served as Elon’s president for 16 years, is a legendary figure on campus. He came to Elon as a student in the fall of 1941, joined the faculty in the fall of 1946 to teach chemistry, went on to become dean and was named president in 1957. At the time, he was one of the youngest college presidents in the country.
During his 16 years as president, he guided Elon to a new level of quality. Improvements were made in academic standards, faculty credentials and the physical plant.
Throughout his career, Danieley has been involved in efforts to improve higher education in North Carolina. In 1983 he was elected to the University of North Carolina Board of Governors and served 12 years. During his tenure, he chaired or co-chaired significant committees on teacher education that led to significant improvements in teacher training. In 1994, Danieley was named as an assistant to C.D. Spangler, former president of the UNC system, with the special responsibility of representing the university system in the General Assembly.
In 1996, Danieley received the Hugh McEniry Award from the North Carolina Association of Colleges and Universities in recognition of his distinguished leadership and service to higher education in the state. Previous recipients include Governors Terry Sanford and Robert Scott, and William Friday, president emeritus of the University of North Carolina.
An Alamance County native, Danieley stepped down from the presidency in 1973 to return to the classroom. He was named director of planned giving at Elon in 1987 and held that position until 1998, when he again returned to teaching.
Danieley and his wife, Verona, established the Daniels-Danieley Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1972, in honor of their parents. The award recognizes one Elon faculty member each year for outstanding contributions to classroom teaching.
Elon honored Danieley in 1996 by naming a distinguished professorship in his honor. The former East Campus area of Elon was renamed Danieley Center in 1998 in honor of his family. The area off East Haggard Avenue has housing for more than 700 students, a dining facility and commons area.
The May 22 commencement exercises will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the historic area under the oaks in front of West Residence Hall.