by John Ripley ’90
Robert Dana’s ’80 curriculum vitae is impressive enough — it boasts a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt — but his true legacy is etched not on parchment but in smiles, high-fives, hugs, tough-love advice, and shoulders for crying. And laughing. Lots of laughing.
You cannot look at an image of Robert Dana without smiling and, if you are fortunate enough to have seen it in person, to understand that he has been the conscience of his beloved University of Maine during changes and challenges that would’ve been impossible to anticipate when he graduated in 1980.
At five feet, six inches tall, Dana is one of the giants of the 163-year history of Maine’s original agricultural college, someone who bridged the gaps between the typewriter and artificial intelligence, Jimmy Carter and Donald Trump, and mullets to $60 hipster trims.
Until his retirement after the fall 2024 semester, Dana held virtually every post that brought him into daily contacts with students, from dean of students to vice president for student affairs, vice president for student life, and retiring as vice president for student life and inclusive excellence/dean of students.
“One image that will always stick with me when I think of Robert and that is his practice of walking around campus every day, no matter the weather,” said Ron Lisnet ’82, Dana’s friend of 30 years and currently his neighbor in Bangor. “With his shock of white hair he was hard to miss. I would join him on occasion and it was amazing to see him interact with just about everybody that he came across. How he remembered all those names I’ll never know.”
The son of a New York City cardiologist and nurse who came to Maine for a year and stayed, Dana grew up in Gardiner with his six siblings. Not long after arriving at the University of Maine in 1976, Dana met his wife of 43 years, Linda Philbrook Dana ’80. “Our first real date was on top of a huge snowbank in a wild snowball fight!” he recalled.
His experiences as a student certainly helped to color his future as a campus leader, he said. “I had a difficult initial adjustment but people who cared for me helped me figure things out,” he said.
“I had remarkable professors who challenged me, supported me, and helped me to set new horizons,” he said. “My campus experiences with student activities and student life showed me that being engaged mattered and that communication and compassion set a tone difficult to beat.”
That last sentence is key — not only to Dana’s education, but his teaching and his legacy as well.
During his 40 years at UMaine, which spanned a quarter of the university’s history and 10 of its 21 presidencies, Dana had contact with thousands upon thousands of students and colleagues. Later in his career, in fact, he would meet students whose parents he had mentored a generation before.
Almost to a person, those who know him well describe a remarkable educator who thrives on the personal, a renowned leader and counselor with a profound belief in the goodness of people.
“He leads with empathy but never loses sight of the seriousness of the university’s purpose,” said Joe Carr, a former UMaine spokesperson and radio voice of Black Bear sports. “His passion and integrity inspire others to follow his example, to strive to match his commitment to always doing right by the university and its students.”
But Dana’s mark on the university and its people goes far beyond being a cheerleader; his longevity is the effect of being able to simply get things done.
Former Student Body President Owen McCarthy ’10 observes, “His presence spanned decades of change, yet he remained constant — a calming, energizing, and deeply human presence. His leadership helped shape not just policies but culture. He’s the reason so many of us feel like UMaine was home.”
For Dana, those effects precisely define the role of a university and its educators.
“There is nothing more important than growth and change, and critical growth comes in the college years,” he said. “Universities have a special role in society and college graduates are privileged and therefore they have a responsibility to make the world a better place.”
This concept, that college students bear a charge to improve the lives of others, as had been done for them, is an echo in Dana’s work and it’s the challenge he imparts on them as he pats them on the back or gives them a solid hug. In his commencement address to the Class of 2025, Dana said, “You are college graduates – not something, in actuality, that many people achieve.
“You faced a global pandemic, political upheaval, social challenges, and technological changes that none of us could have predicted,” Dana told the newly minted graduates.
Indeed, a weighty part of Dana’s role at UMaine was to guide students through many of the trials of young adulthood, which he managed with quiet wisdom, strength, and humor. Whether the struggles focused on financial problems, mental and physical health concerns, or the “million other things that happen in a person’s life,” they often found their way to Dana’s desk — and shoulder.
“We can’t fix everything but support and encouragement plus problem solving and helping cut red tape and decision-making help students find a path to resolving their concerns and worries,” he said. Every problem — big or small — deserves attention and it makes a big difference when you can share your concerns with someone who won’t judge and who will be able to help figure things out.”
That deep belief in simply caring for one’s neighbor was, perhaps, the bedrock of Dana’s commencement speech, reminding his charges that “My primary goal here today is to reinforce what we’ve talked about since we met. Be kind. Be caring. Be compassionate. And use your privilege to lift others.”
Those comments explain why UMaine’s Athletic Director, Jude Killy, said, “I love being next to Dr. Dana at commencement.
“I have had the pleasure of sitting next to him on the dais multiple times,” Killy said. “It is amazing the number of people who he knows and says ‘hi’ to, or shakes their hand.”
Six months into his retirement, those interactions are, predictably, what Dana will miss most about his years at UMaine. As with his time on campus, Dana’s post-work life has been anything but static.
A long trip to Italy, another to Newfoundland, reading, and spending time with their three grandchildren in Portland have kept Dana and his wife, who retired two years ago, quite busy. The decision to retire, he said, was more than a bit complicated.
“My life was centered at UMaine for 40 years and I drew a great sense of purpose from my work with this community,” Dana said. As would be expected, Dana has kept in touch with his colleagues but misses his daily connections with the students. “I got so much stimulation, enthusiasm, and encouragement from them, and that I am grateful for.”
Gratitude, in fact, is the overriding post-retirement emotion Dana has felt since he departed campus. “I wonder, honestly, how could anyone be so blessed by a career like mine,” he said. Asked to share what he felt are his deepest contributions to the university, Dana again turned it to his deep belief in the power of students to make a difference in the world.
“I hope others agree that I inspired and curated a culture of kindness, caring, and respect,” he said. “I cared deeply for students and believed all of them were poised for greatness and real leadership. I hope my belief helped others believe too.”
Andrea Gallant Gifford ’88, ’03G, UMaine’s current dean of students, first met Dana some 23 years ago when she interviewed to work for him. Dana, she said, simply “left behind a campus that was better than he found it.
“Forty years of caring and always putting students first at the premier public university and serving Maine was of utmost importance to him,” Gifford said, adding that Dana’s legacy was one of “kindness, caring, and compassion.
“That was his motto and his deep belief — that people just need to be kind,” she said.