Thomas K. Hearn Jr.

Thomas K. Hearn Jr., who led Wake Forest from being a well-regarded regional college to one of the top national universities in the country during his 22-year tenure as president, died on Aug. 18.

Memorials can be made to the Wake Forest University Brain Tumor Center of Excellence, Office of Development, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1021.
 

Alumni, friends and students are invited to share their thoughts and memories of President Emeritus Hearn.
 

President Emeritus Thomas K. Hearn Jr. was remembered for being a compassionate man and a great leader during his memorial service on Aug. 22.
 

Published in the Aug. 20 edition of the Winston-Salem Journal.
 

A look back at the presidency of Thomas K. Hearn Jr.
 

Dr. Hearn was fond of saying that Wake Forest was one of higher education's most remarkable stories. The Wake Forest Magazine reviewed the latest chapter in that story — his chapter — when he retired in 2005.
 

Dr. Hearn was senior vice president for non-medical affairs at the University of Alabama-Birmingham and just 45-years-old when he was named Wake Forest's 12th president in 1983. His 22-year tenure matched that of William Louis Poteat (1905-27) as the longest serving president in Wake Forest history.
 

Earlier this summer, Dr. Hearn completed a book, "On this day of endings and beginnings," that contained the Commencement speeches that he delivered as president.