Ohio colleges make national rankings CWRU, OSU, Oberlin score high marks
Former Oberlin College President Nancy Dye has died.
(Jon Fobes, The Plain Dealer )
Former Oberlin College President Nancy Dye.
LAKEWOOD, Ohio - Nancy Dye, who served as Oberlin College president from 1994 to 2007, died Wednesday at her home in Lakewood after a long illness. She was 68.
As Oberlin's president, Dye led a successful capital campaign that raised $175 million, the largest fundraising effort to that date at Oberlin, the college said. She oversaw the construction of a $65 million science center and the Adam Joseph Lewis Environmental Studies Center, which won numerous prizes for sustainability and design. She also initiated the restoration of the Cass Gilbert-designed Allen Memorial Art Museum.
Drawing on her experience as a historian and as academic dean at Vassar College from 1988 to 1994, Dye established new programs in cinema studies and comparative American studies, the college said.
In 2004, she became the first president of an American college or university in more than 25 years to visit Iran. She met with government and university officials, faculty, and students to discuss reestablishing educational exchanges between the two countries.
Dye was born in Columbia, Missouri. She graduated from Vassar College in 1969. She earned master's and doctorate degrees in history at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her historical research focused on American women and American workers.
She began her academic career at the University of Kentucky, where she became a professor of history and an associate dean of the college of arts and sciences. She moved to Vassar College in 1988 as academic dean and chief academic officer.
While at Oberlin, Dye established the Bonner Center for Service and Learning, which coordinates and promotes student service projects and civic engagement. She initiated a scholarship program that enables qualified graduates of Oberlin High School to attend Oberlin College tuition-free.
After her retirement from Oberlin, she became the first vice chancellor for the Asian University of Women in Bangladesh. From 2009 to 2011, she served as vice provost of the United Arab Emirates University, where she established a residential college for women.
Dye is survived by her husband, Dr. Griffith Dye; daughter Molly, of Lakewood, and son Michael, of Evanston, Illinois; two granddaughters and a brother.
Contributions may be made to the Nancy S. Dye Scholarship Fund at Oberlin College.