“One year on, the Marquette University and College of Business Administration community are still profoundly impacted by the loss of our leader and friend,” Tim Hanley, the interim dean of the College of Business Administration, said in an email regarding the late Joe Daniels.
Daniels was selected as dean of the College of Business Administration in January last year after serving as a faculty member in the college since 1992.
He died Feb. 11, 2020, after being struck by a vehicle crossing the intersection of 10th and Wisconsin Ave. He was 60 years old.
A funeral service was held at the Church of the Gesu that next week, as members of the Marquette community filled the chapel, mourning the loss of a father, husband and friend. Classes in the College of Business Administration were canceled the day of the funeral so students, faculty and staff within the college could attend the service.
“He was an excellent scholar and teacher. He was a passionate leader and friend to all, and led his life through faith and love for his family,” Hanley said in an email. “He was the definition of a servant leader. So much of who we are as a college today, who countless numbers of our alumni are as men and women for others, and who we will be for years to come is thanks to Joe.”
Hanley said that even today, the College of Business Administration continues to hold Daniels’ wife, Lora, and their children, in their prayers.
“That grief always lives alongside gratefulness when we stop to reflect on the blessing that Joe was to our community,” Hanley said.
Hanley said one of Daniel’s last contributions to the college was his vision for the future home of Marquette business.
“He had a vision of the special impact a new facility could have on generations of Marquette students to come, and he was hugely instrumental in making a new home for us a reality,” Hanley said.
New plans for a new business building were announced during University President Michael Lovell’s sixth presidential address last year, two weeks before Daniels passed. The new business building will be on the northeast corner of Wisconsin Avenue and 16th Street, where McCormick Hall once stood.
The project is expected to break ground this fall.
Kevin Conway, a university spokesperson, said the Marquette community was devastated by the loss of Daniels and continues to offer prayers to Daniels’ friends, family, colleagues and students.
“Joe was a fixture on Marquette’s campus for more than 30 years, where he made an indelible impact on the field of economics as a master scholar, taught thousands of students and helped bring Marquette Business to new heights,” Conway said in an email.
A memorial scholarship fund was also started in Daniels’ name shortly after he died. This scholarship “will honor future Marquette students,” according to the scholarship website.
Zach Madson, a sophomore in the College of Business Administration, recalled learning of the dean’s death last year.
“I was really shocked,” Madson said. “It was weird to think that it happened right on campus to someone who had been a part of tons of students’ developments.”
“(Our) community is still profoundly impacted by the loss of our leader and friend, Keyes Dean Dr. Joe Daniels,” Hanley said in an email.
Recently, the driver involved in the hit-and-run faced charges.
Jordan Jones, 21, was charged for a hit-and-run resulting in death and knowingly operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license. If convicted, he could face up to 31 years in prison and up to $110,000 in fines.
This story was written by Benjamin Wells. He can be reached at [email protected]
