Changer A Vision, a Plan, and What Dick Flynn Will Leave Behind
To understand what motivates President Richard B. Flynn, you have only to watch him in action. His work is methodical and precise. And, it is fueled by a vision that has brought Springfield College back on course. That vision is made tangible in the details, something with which Dick Flynn is very well acquainted. He has been involved at every phase of each project he has undertaken since March 1999 when he joined Springfield College as its 12th president. He is often seen out on the campus, tape measure in hand, working with contractors and arborists. It has all been to good effect and no one can disagree that what Dick Flynn has brought to Springfield College is nothing short of complete and total transformation.
But, for as public as he is in support of this institution that he loves so much, he is an intensely private man. He has been heard to say that he prefers not to talk about himself, that “this institution is so much bigger than any one of us.” And so it is. But we would be denying human nature if we didn’t wonder what it was about Bernard and Myrtle Flynn that produced not one but two college presidents. (While Dick Flynn was leading Springfield College, his brother Tom, now retired, was applying his vision to Monroe Community College of the State university of new York system in rochester.) What is public and obvious is his devotion as husband, father, grandfather, and leader of Springfield College. When he first arrived on the campus, Director of
Alumni relations Tamie Kidess Lucey ’81, G’82, liked to say, “President Flynn isn’t proud to be a college presi- dent, he is proud to be the Springfield College president.” For, although he holds bachelor’s and
TRIANGLE 1 Vol . 84, No. 2
master’s degrees in health and physical education from, respectively, MacMurray College and ohio university, and a doctorate from Columbia university Teacher’s College, he understands this College as well as any alumnus and probably better than most. That understanding and the aforementioned atten-
tion to detail can be traced back to his initial meeting with the presidential search committee that recom- mended his selection. The story goes that richard Flynn presented himself to that committee, beginning with his own background, education, and experience, and finishing with his assessment of Springfield College’s history, present condition, and his vision for its future. He had impressed his interviewers as intelligent,
mature, thoughtful, and responsive. Board of Trustees Chair Bill Marsh said, “He was somewhat low key, but still seemed to have real backbone.” A short time later, the presidential search committee recommended, and the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to select,
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