RU History
Presidents of Radford University
Donald Newton Dedmon
Radford College
1972-1979
Radford University
1979-1994
| Like his predecessor, Donald Dedmon was born in Missouri and received his
undergraduate degree from Southwestern Missouri State College. He pursued his M.A. and
Ph.D. at the University of Iowa. His career included teaching experience at both the high
school and college levels before he moved into university administration at Colorado State
University and Marshall University. Prior to coming to Radford, Dr. Dedmon served as
Marshall's executive vice president and acting president. During the two decades that Dr. Dedmon served as Radford's president, the university experienced unprecedented growth in campus size, curriculum, and student population. The school made the transition from an all-womans college to admitting its first male undergraduates in the 1972-1973 academic year and to university status in 1979. Dr. Dedmon was a staunch supporter of the importance of faculty teaching at a time when many other institutions were emphasizing research over classroom work. Dr. Dedmon retired in 1994. Vice President of Academic Affairs Charles Owens served as Acting President until Douglas Covington took office in 1995. View the official portrait of Dr. Dedmon which is located on the wall in the Circulation Hall of McConnell Library to the left of the Stacks Coffee Shop. Click the "Back" button on your browser to return to this page. |
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Last update: March 31, 2000
