Deans Casey and Suchar Retire

Dear Colleagues,

Saying goodbye to a beloved colleague is never easy. Yet today we must wish two of our dedicated leaders well, as Don Casey, dean of the School of Music, and Chuck Suchar, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, have announced their decisions to retire from DePaul University. While I am sad to see them both leave, I am extraordinarily grateful to have had the opportunity to work with both Don and Chuck these many years. Their legacy will remain a part of DePaul forever.

As dean of the School of Music for 20 years, Don built an extraordinary program. An accomplished scholar and conductor, he came to DePaul in 1995 from Northwestern University, and immediately began transforming the School of Music into the world-class program it is today. Early on, Don realized that the School of Music had a unique advantage, due to its proximity to Chicago’s thriving music scene. He cultivated relationships throughout the city. He recruited extraordinary faculty. He more than tripled the number of endowed scholarships in the School of Music.

Under Don’s leadership, four of the school’s major ensembles rose to a level of such excellence, they are now considered to be among the best in the country—an accomplishment that makes us all proud. Don not only helped significantly raise the performance standards of students, he also elevated the reputation of the school’s faculty and staff. He recognized that a great school of music gives students not only the technical and performance skills they need to succeed, but also the teaching skills to cultivate the next generation of musicians. Making this a high priority, he led a revision of the school’s undergraduate and graduate curricula. Upholding our Vincentian ideals, the Community Music Division now provides music instruction and instruments to 150 children from the lowest economic stratum in Lawndale. Through Don’s legacy, the School of Music will help students realize their own dreams and the dreams of many future musicians to come.

Beyond the School of Music, Don served as one member of three on the Strategic Plan Steering Committee, which developed Vision 2018. We also can thank Don for helping initiate and produce “Christmas at DePaul,” one of DePaul’s most cherished holiday traditions. A role model for students, he has made more than 100 appearances as a music festival guest conductor or adjudicator in 20 states and four Canadian provinces. He has served on the Board of the Grant Park Music Festival since 2001. He led the design efforts for Harmonic Vision, Inc., a music education software company that has reached more than a million children. 

Don’s leadership and passion as dean have left the School of Music in a strong position. But in his words, the time has come for him to “pass the baton” to another.

After careful thought and deliberation, Chuck Suchar too has decided to retire from DePaul University. In his nine years serving as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and 43 years as a member of the faculty, Chuck created numerous undergraduate and graduate programs. He diligently worked to provide faculty with resources to support their scholarship. His most personal satisfaction, he will tell you, came from his work with the College Personnel Committee. Chuck represented more than 170 of his colleagues through the tenure and promotion process, and I only can imagine the gratitude and respect each one of those colleagues has for him.

DePaul also can thank him for its highly successful Chicago Quarter program, which introduces all freshmen to the city and culture of Chicago through its Discover & Explore Chicago courses. He chaired the committee that created the Focal Point Seminar Program in Liberal Studies. The impetus to create a service-learning center also came from Chuck. He and Lorrie Worrall, who became the first director of the Steans Center, co-chaired the University Task Force that proposed creating such a service-learning center. He co-edited, “DePaul University, Centennial Essays and Images.” Written in honor of DePaul’s centennial in 1998, this comprehensive history reminds us just how far the university has come since it was that little school under the El.

Throughout his career, Chuck held multiple leadership roles at DePaul. In his college, he served as associate dean for 13 years—six years for undergraduate studies and seven years for graduate studies. For eight years, he chaired the sociology/anthropology department, his academic area of expertise, and served as division head of the behavioral sciences for three years. He also directed DePaul’s university-wide honors program for five years.

As a scholar, Chuck helped develop the field of visual sociology, serving as the president of the International Visual Sociology Association for four years and as associate editor of the journal Visual Studies since its founding to the present day.

Both Don and Chuck will continue to serve as deans through December, at which time they will join their families, who have been waiting patiently for them to retire for many years now. I know Chuck looks forward to the additional time he will have with his wife, children and grandchildren. Don eagerly anticipates more time with his wife, daughter and her husband and his young grandson as well.

In the coming months, I will announce the appointment of interim deans and search committees and seek the advice of faculty and staff in those processes. Please join me in congratulating and thanking Don and Chuck for everything they have done for DePaul .

Gratefully,

Patricia O’Donoghue
Interim Provost

Source: Email sent to DePaul University Community, May 7, 2014