Editor’s note: More than one hundred of Dana Hamel’s friends, colleagues and admirers attended a public memorial observance his honor on Saturday, August 5, 2023 at the Virginia War Memorial. You can view photos of the memorial event, see the memorial program, and read Dr. Hamel’s obituary.
Media Contact:
Susan Pollard, Asst. Vice Chancellor for Strategic Communications
Virginia’s Community Colleges
spollard@vccs.edu
804-819-4949
David Doré, Ed.D., Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System, issued the following statement:
Those who believe in the power of education to elevate people and promote the common good are mourning the loss of Dr. Dana B. Hamel, the founding Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System. Dr. Hamel died Friday night, just a few weeks shy of his 100th birthday. We have lost a great friend and Virginia has lost one of its guiding lights of the 20th century.
Dana B. Hamel at VCCS 50th Anniversary Gala, Oct. 2016.
Dr. Hamel’s leadership as the architect and first Chancellor of our community colleges was essential in opening the door for countless Virginians to gain access to higher education and a better life. It was through Hamel’s guidance and dogged determination that Virginia advanced from having a collection of trade schools and university branch campuses to produce one of the country’s leading systems of comprehensive community colleges.
I had the great privilege to speak with Dr. Hamel shortly after I was appointed to serve the Virginia Community Colleges this spring. His advice to me as I began my service as the new VCCS Chancellor was generous and inspiring, and I’ll always be grateful for the time we spent together.
Dana B. Hamel in 1963
Dr. Hamel was tireless and unshakably optimistic. And there’s little doubt he will be long remembered for his trademark cheerful greeting, “It’s a great day to be alive in the commonwealth!”
Hamel also was stubbornly modest, refusing to take personal credit for his remarkable stewardship during the first crucial years of the Virginia Community College System. He served as Chancellor from the system’s creation in 1966 to 1979. Many of the founding principles, the first campuses that he built, and our governance structure are based on the plans that he brought to life.
Dana Hamel was born August 9, 1923 in Maine. The son of Canadian immigrants, Hamel learned watchmaking and repair from his father. Hamel grew up in the coal mining region of Pennsylvania in Johnstown and had just started college when World War Two broke out. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps, serving in the Pacific Theater. The G.I. Bill was Hamel’s ticket back to college after the war, with family members urging him to pursue the ministry, as his twin brother had done.
But at Ashland College and Ohio State, Hamel gravitated to teaching and history and went on to earn his doctorate in education from the University of Cincinnati.
After teaching and administrative experience in Ohio, Hamel was recruited to run Roanoke Technical Institute in the early 1960s. That’s where he came to the attention of top educators in Virginia, and political leaders who realized the state was falling behind economically without more post-secondary educational opportunities.
“There was a feeling that we needed to do more for the people of Virginia and help them get prepared for jobs that require more than a high school education. Our community colleges were an investment in our future, and people responded. They’ve helped people be more than they ever thought they could be,” said Hamel during the VCCS’s 50th Anniversary celebration in 2016.
The massive task of organizing new community colleges, staffing them and developing operational policies fell largely to Hamel’s team.
Hamel’s career of public service spanned nearly 40 years. After his service to Virginia Technical Colleges and the VCCS, Hamel was executive director at the Virginia Center for Public/Private Initiatives and played a leading role in securing the development of the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, which hosts world-class nuclear physics research in Newport News.
Upon his retirement at the end of 1995, Virginia Lawmakers adopted a joint resolution of thanks and commendation for Hamel’s tireless efforts to advance higher education and economic development in the commonwealth.
Dana Hamel’s handiwork can be seen every day on our college campuses across Virginia, and in the improved lives of countless Virginia families.
Plans for a memorial will be forthcoming. Our hearts and prayers are with the Hamel family.
