Daan Braveman Named Ninth President of Nazareth College
February 9, 2005
From a Nazareth College Release
Nazareth College's Board of Trustees today named Daan Braveman as the College's ninth president. Braveman, a professor of law and the former dean of Syracuse University College of Law, will take office on July 1, 2005.
"We are incredibly pleased that Daan Braveman is joining Nazareth," said Brian E. Hickey, chairman of the Nazareth College Board of Trustees and executive vice president of M&T Bank. "Daan's passion for experiential learning, his deep respect for the liberal arts, and his dedication to excellence parallel Nazareth's commitment to teaching, off-campus learning and an inclusive community. Resourceful and energetic, he has the experience and vision necessary to lead Nazareth into the future."
David L. Vigren, Nazareth board member, chair of the presidential search committee, and retired president and CEO of ESL Federal Credit Union, agreed. "In Daan's eight years as dean of the Syracuse University College of Law, he experienced a wide breadth of issues and opportunities, from admissions to fundraising, from maintenance of a student-centered culture to the promotion of teamwork among the college's various constituencies, including a Board of Advisors. I know he will bring to Nazareth personal warmth, energy and ideas coupled with a genuine desire to engage the people of the College in strategic planning and other activities critical to our future success."
Braveman joined Syracuse University College of Law in 1977 and served as Dean from 1994 - 2002. During his tenure, he taught courses in civil procedure, civil rights, constitutional law, federal courts, law firm, and federal Indian law.
Braveman's accomplishments at Syracuse University College of Law include: - spearheading the most successful fundraising campaign in the College's 105-year history; - significantly expanding alumni programs, publications and events; - the development of the Applied Learning Program, which emphasizes experiential learning through the integration of theory and practice; - expansion of the College's interdisciplinary programs; - enhancement of the College's writing program and creation of its first writing center; - an increase in quantity and quality of applicants and accepted students; - expansion of the geographic distribution of the student body; - expansion of the career services program; - a substantial increase in the number of minority students and faculty; - the creation of programs that enhanced staff morale; and - the development of programs linking the College of Law with the local Syracuse community through the provision of free legal assistance to residents unable to afford lawyers, including the formation of the College's Public Interest Law Firm.
Prior to his work at Syracuse University, Braveman was a law clerk to Justice Samuel J. Roberts of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and an attorney for the Greater Upstate Law Project.
From 1993 - 1995, Braveman served as reporter for the Civil Justice Reform Act Advisory Group for the northern district of New York where he assessed excessive cost and delay in civil litigation, and recommended proposals to address these problems. In addition, he has been a member of the Greater Upstate Law Project Board of Directors (1995-1999); the task force of the Citizens for Independent Courts (1999); the American Bar Association Law School Site Evaluation Team (2001); and the NYSBA Special Committee on Student Loan Assistance for the Public Interest (2001-2002). In 2003, the New York State Commission on Judicial Nomination selected him as a nominee for a position as Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals.
Braveman is a member of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, Onondaga County Bar Association, American Law Institute, and the Syracuse Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee, and is a past member of the Syracuse Mayor's Intervention Task Force on Youth Violence. Braveman is also a visiting professor of law at Yeshiva University Cardozo School of Law in New York City.
Braveman, 57, is a native of Rochester. He graduated from Brighton High School in 1965 and the University of Rochester in 1969. He obtained his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1972. Braveman is the author of many books and articles on issues dealing with constitutional law, civil rights, child poverty and legal education.
Braveman is married to Lorraine Winn Braveman, a certified social worker and a native of Rochester. They have one child, Adam, a senior at the University of Rochester.
Braveman will succeed Robert A. Miller who has served as Nazareth's president since 1998. "During my seven years as president of Nazareth College, I have had the pleasure of working with devoted members of our community in the physical transformation of our College and in the strengthening of our capacity to fulfill our historic mission," said Miller. "I am very pleased that Daan Braveman has been appointed as the next president. I have every confidence in his ability to lead this institution, and to sustain and quicken the momentum now in place. Daan brings the complete package to this position. As Dean of the College of Law at Syracuse University he brought all constituencies together in support of a strategic plan which significantly enhanced the college's facilities, diversity, commitment to quality instruction, and scholarship."
Miller and his wife Jan plan to relocate to Winter Park, Fla., while maintaining a second residence in Rochester. He intends to spend his retirement serving as a higher education consultant and advisor to various for- and non-profit concerns. When Miller announced in May 2004 that he would retire in June 2005, the College's Board of Trustees began the campus-wide process of searching for Nazareth's ninth president. A Presidential Search Committee, chaired by Vigren, was formed. Consisting of Nazareth faculty, staff, students, trustees and alumni, the committee identified the needs of the College and the leadership qualities that the next president must possess. Among these leadership qualities were a solid understanding of higher education, an outstanding record of leadership, and a commitment to the further development of the College.
From a pool of more than 60 nominees, four candidates were invited to visit Nazareth to meet the entire College community. "Everyone on campus, in addition to trustees, had an opportunity to meet each candidate," said Vigren. "We solicited feedback and received more than 300 e-mails. The committee read each one and folded that information into its own knowledge of the candidates. I believe the openness of this process allowed the committee to make the most informed decision possible." Dr. Tobie van der Vorm of Academic Search Consultation Services facilitated the process.
For more information on the Presidential Search Committee and its members, visit www.naz.edu/presidentsearch/index.html Founded in 1924, Nazareth College is an independent, co-educational college in the liberal arts tradition. With more than 40 majors, its mission is to provide a broad-based education rooted in intellectual, ethical and aesthetic values, and to prepare students for meaningful lives and successful careers. The College has more than 200 faculty members, 2,035 undergraduate students and 1,105 graduate students. With a student to faculty ratio 12:1, Nazareth students receive the attention necessary to develop the strength, commitment and confidence they need to lead fully informed and actively engaged lives.