James Rhatigan, who helped guide generations of students at Wichita State University, has died.
School officials said on social media that Mr. Rhatigan died Sunday a few days after entering hospice care. He was 89 years old.
Mr. Rhatigan worked at WSU for nearly 50 years. In 1965, at the age of 30, he was named dean of students, one of the youngest people in the country to hold that position.
“He was a devoted mentor to its student body and a national figure in educational activism,” the WSU Foundation and Alumni Engagement said in a statement. “As vice president for student affairs and dean of students, he was regarded as ‘the student’s best friend’ and an exemplar of integrity, compassion and principled leadership.”
Mr. Rhatigan was named vice president of Student Affairs in 1970, a role he held until 1996. He then served six years as senior vice president until he retired in 2002.
He spent the next decade working with the WSU Foundation.
“As a consultant for the WSU Foundation and Alumni Engagement, he worked tirelessly and continuously to increase access to education for tens of thousands of students, yet he never lost sight of the importance of fostering relationships at the individual level,” the foundation said in a statement.
Mr. Rhatigan retired again in 2014 but retained the title of professor of education and senior vice president emeritus.
In 1995, WSU’s Student Government Association created the James J. Rhatigan Leadership Scholarship. It provides financial assistance to students “who have demonstrated consistent leadership, service, and academic merit within the University and surrounding community.”
In 1997, the Campus Activities Center was renamed the Rhatigan Student Center in his honor.
A native of Iowa, Mr. Rhatigan earned degrees from Coe College and Syracuse University and a doctorate from the University of Iowa.
He was deeply involved in the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, which is made up of professionals working in the field of student affairs. He donated his papers from his time with the organization to the National Student Affairs Archives at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.
Services for Mr. Rhatigan are pending.
