Daniel W. Shannon, a transformative leader in continuing and adult education and the longest-serving dean in the history of the Graham School, passed away peacefully on December 21, 2025. He was known for a life marked by intellectual curiosity, generosity of spirit, and a deep belief in the power of education to expand opportunity and strengthen communities.
Dan served as dean of the Graham School from 1996 until his retirement in 2014, guiding the School through a period of extraordinary growth and national and international prominence. Under his leadership, Graham significantly expanded its offerings, strengthened ties with University of Chicago faculty across divisions and professional schools, and extended the University’s intellectual mission to new audiences locally and around the world.
Geoff Stone, Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor and former Provost of the University of Chicago, reflected that he was “deeply proud to have appointed Dan Dean of the Graham School.”
“He was a brilliant candidate for the position and I was honored to work with him over the next several years,” Stone said. “He brought insight, intellectual excellence, and boundless energy to the School. He left a powerful and lasting legacy that continues now and into the future.”
Throughout his tenure, Dan championed the idea of lifelong learning as a core expression of the University’s mission. He helped position the Graham School as a vital bridge between the University and the broader public. He also supported early explorations of educational technology as a means of expanding access and reach.
John Boyer, Martin A. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor and former dean of the College, worked alongside Dan for decades and described him as “a very effective dean of the Graham School because he understood its fundamental mission as being a central component of the traditions of a great urban university.”
Boyer continued, “Dan had a strong and consistent belief in the importance of liberal and professional education for adult students. He was also an imaginative leader who created many new programs in the field of general and professional education. Dan was willing to take chances with new approaches and experimental programming, all the while holding his colleagues and himself to the highest possible standards of academic achievement. He was a wonderful and generous colleague whose time at Graham was marked by stimulating intellectual conversations and effective programmatic innovations. Dan also had a full measure of civic courage, and he was an articulate and resolute defender of the importance of universities as institutions for the public enlightenment of our society.”
Before joining the University of Chicago, Dan held senior leadership roles at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and California State University–Dominguez Hills.
Dan’s impact extended well beyond the university. He was a national leader in the field of continuing higher education, serving as president of the University Continuing Education Association (now known as UPCEA) and receiving its Julius M. Knolte Award for extraordinary contributions to the profession.
He also played a critical role in shaping the intellectual foundations of the continuing education field through his role as editor of The Continuing Higher Education Review.
A service celebrating Dan’s life will be held in the summer of 2026.
The University of Chicago is grateful for Dan Shannon’s vision, leadership, and lasting legacy. His influence continues to shape the Graham School’s mission, its programs, and its commitment to lifelong learning.
