Remembering Tom DiLorenzo

Tributes pour in from around the nation after the tragic death of recently retired Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

The tragic shooting death of recently retired UND Provost Tom DiLorenzo on July 17 in Charleston, S.C., caused an outpouring of memories and comments from University alumni, students, faculty, staff and the greater Grand Forks community.

DiLorenzo was shot during an early morning attempted robbery in downtown Charleston while on a walk with his wife, Suzanne Austin, Charleston police reported. He died an hour later at a local hospital.

DiLorenzo retired from UND on June 1 of this year. Austin began her new job as Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at the College of Charleston on July 1. Three teenagers have been arrested in connection with the shooting.

The news of DiLorenzo’s death hit the UND community hard. And although his seven years at the University had been controversial at times, the number and depth of DiLorenzo’s relationships reveal a side of the man less well-known to the public.

Retired UND President Robert Kelley, who hired DiLorenzo as Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs in 2013, said their working relationship was based on complementary abilities, mutual respect and humor. Sometimes at the end of a trying day, Kelley would seek out DiLorenzo in his Twamley Hall office.

“We’d shut the door and talk about politics, economics and issues we’d been having,” he recalled. “Tom enjoyed using the words ‘analytics’ and ‘solutions.’ He always wanted to find solutions.

“I used to tease him and say, ‘Tom, I’m here at the end of a hard day, and I need some analytics. I’m here for some of your solutions,’” Kelley chuckled. “It would always make him laugh.”

DiLorenzo’s ability to analyze and solve problems was what Kelley valued about the UND provost.

“Tom had a way of approaching issues that permitted finding solutions,” he said. “He had a very analytical way of doing it that helped him reach decisions. He would use his keenly honed intellect to help me resolve some of the issues my office was facing.”

Sara Garland, chair of the UND Alumni Association & Foundation Board of Directors and former chief of staff to retired North Dakota U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad, knew DiLorenzo both on a personal and a professional level. Once UND’s lobbyist in Washington, Garland is now retired and lives in Virginia.

“He would come to Washington, D.C., several times a year, and we’d talk about family, the University, various issues, politics and those sorts of things,” she said. “I got to know him well. We both had grandchildren, which was another link in our friendship.”

In 2018, Garland led an effort on the 50th anniversary of her UND class of 1968 to raise money for an endowment for student scholarships. DiLorenzo attended a reception for the group during UND’s homecoming and addressed members of the class.

“What he did took me completely by surprise,” Garland remembered. “He gave our class endowment a $5,000 personal contribution. It was the kindest, most thoughtful thing. I told him that I will never be able to thank him enough. It was just wonderful and heartfelt act on his part. I will be forever grateful to him for that.”

DiLorenzo was thoroughly committed to the Foundation, attending and speaking at board meetings as UND’s representative.

“We didn’t get lip service from Tom,” Garland said. “He was truly committed to the organization because he understood the connection. He knew UND’s students were going to benefit from the work of the Foundation in terms of student and faculty endowments.”

Read the full tribute to Tom DiLorenzo at www.blogs.UND.edu/UND-today/2020/07/ remembering-tom-dilorenzo/. ///

—By Patrick C. Miller