Adams State University will honor the life and memory of John Edgar McDaniel, Ph.D., emeritus professor of history, at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 10, in Richardson Hall Auditorium. For those unable to attend in person, the event will be livestreamed.
Dr. McDaniel, a legendary professor whose commitment to the University spanned over half the years of its existence, joined the faculty in 1967 and remained excited about history, politics, and teaching his students, for the next 40 years. He passed away on May 2, 2023.
Dr. John, as he was affectionally known by friends and colleagues often said, “I’ve always thought our slogan, ‘quality education with a personal touch,’ adequately describes Adams State.” And he took those words to heart. Through the Adams State University Foundation and teaming up with Adams State alumni, former colleagues and faculty, Dr. McDaniel created forty tuition scholarships.
Adams State President David Tandberg, Ph.D., credits the McDaniel Scholarship as the primary reason he remained in college and graduated. In 2012, the newly renovated Education and Social Sciences Building was dedicated as the John E. McDaniel Hall in his honor. In 2014, McDaniel endowed the McDaniel Fellows program, a student intern program, which places students in campus and community employment while they complete their undergraduate degrees.
He brought a wealth of experience as a young faculty member. He was working on his Ph.D. at Harvard when he left to help elect President John F. Kennedy and then served in the White House. He said it was a time of intense idealism. “We really thought it was all possible, to make the world a better place.”
Although the Kennedy White House came to a tragic end, Dr. McDaniel continued to make the world a better place, inspiring nearly all that knew him. As William “Bill” Rakow, Jr., Ph.D., Class of 1969, said when Dr. McDaniel retired: “The first thing that pops into my head when I think of Dr. John is how he always said, ‘You can see a lot further if you sit on the shoulders of giants.’ He is one of those giants.”
Dr. McDaniel earned a Ph.D. from the University of Texas and bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Texas Christian University. He was a Fulbright Scholar and an officer in the US Air Force. In 2019, Dr. McDaniel was inducted into the Coleman Independent School District Hall of Fame.
After his retirement, Dr. McDaniel joined the Adams State University Foundation, and was serving as vice-president and chairing the nominating committee at the time of his decease. In the last 30 years, his financial contributions to Adams State exceeded one million dollars to date. From 1995 to 2007, he served as the Adams State Faculty Marshall.
