Former administrator Murnane passes away

Tufts former Senior Vice President for University Development Thomas Murnane (A ’58, D ’62, DG ’65, AG ’68), who was an influential member of the Tufts community for nearly 50 years, passed away on March 20 at the age of 77.

While working at Tufts, Murnane helped raise over $1 billion for the university, according to current Vice President for University Advancement Eric Johnson. After receiving a Doctor of Dental Medicine, an Advanced Dental Certification and a Ph.D. from the university's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Murnane practiced dentistry for a short time. He quickly moved into an administrative role, however, and became the interim dean of the School of Dental Medicine in the early 1970s.

"He did that for a few years before [former University President] Jean Mayer tapped him to take on a fundraising and alumni relations role," Johnson said. "Even though he wasn't a practicing dentist, he still kept his hand in it, since he taught anatomy classes at the dental school."

Murnane worked closely with Mayer, who was, at the time, the associate dean of the School of Dental Medicine. Together, they established a veterinary school, which had not existed in New England for 75 years, according to a March 17 Tufts Now article.

"We were pretty sleepy at the time — a regional school just staggering along — and we didn't know what we were doing as a college or as university," Alice and Nathan Gantcher University Professor of Judaic Studies Sol Gittleman said.

Gittleman, who served as Tufts' provost during most of Murnane's tenure, emphasized the important partnership Murnane formed with Mayer.

"He was remarkable in that he played as much [of] a role as the president did in transforming Tufts," Gittleman said.

"[Murnane] and Jean Mayer started really the first capital campaign in Tufts history in 1979," Johnson added.

James Stern (E ’72), the former chair of the Board of Trustees, explained that when he first joined the board during Mayer's presidency, there were three people who were known as the "troika:" Gittleman, who — as provost — ran the academic side of the university, Steven Manos, who served as executive vice president and Murnane, who raised the money required to bring Mayer's vision for Tufts to life. Upon joining the board, Stern said he understood that the university's last attempt at a capital campaign to raise $7 million had failed.

When Murnane first proposed an ambitious capital campaign to raise around $20 million, many of the board members resigned, according to Gittleman.

"They thought he was crazy, that we couldn't raise that kind of money, but we did," Gittleman said.

Mayer subsequently put Murnane in charge of fundraising campaigns with a new goal of raising $145 million, Gittleman explained. According to Director of Public Relations Kim Thurler, Murnane completed that campaign and then ran two more successful ones, including one for $250 million and another for $600 million.

"This was a school that was not known to raise money," Stern said. "In each of these campaigns, the dollar goal of the campaign exceeded our endowment when we first started the campaign."

Murnane's efforts put Tufts fundraising in line with other accomplished universities, Johnson added.

"Prior to 1980, places like Brown and Dartmouth and some of our peer institutions had been raising funds for years, while Tufts didn't have a history of fundraising," Johnson said. "But at the end of [Murnane's] tenure, Tufts was raising similar amounts as peer institutions and that is largely due to [Murnane]."

With the money raised, when Mayer advocated for new professional schools to improve the undergraduate college, Tufts was able to build new schools for veterinary medicine and nutrition, according to Gittleman. He said the campus center was also built as a result of Murnane's fundraising campaigns.

"Tufts today is unrecognizable to the Tufts when Tom Murnane took over development," Gittleman said.

He described Murnane and Mayer's relationship as symbiotic because of their deep trust in one another — a view which was also echoed by Manos.
"Tom and Jean Mayer were perfect soul mates because they were both very creative, both dreamers [and] they were both ambitious." Manos said. "They were both ready to take chances, were both ready to court failure [even], because they had a vision of something better."

Gittleman added that Murnane and Mayer's charisma contributed to their fundraising prowess.
"Tom had a political gene, and he was wired in the State House in Massachusetts," Stern said. "He was very well-connected there, and it was important for Tufts ... He was what you would expect of someone doing that kind of work, but Tom was a good guy — a real good guy."

Johnson said Murnane was a mentor who taught him how to manage and organize, as well as how to effectively build relationships with other people.

The current students at Tufts, and the generations of students who will follow, are the major beneficiaries of Murnane's efforts, Stern added.

"For those of us who were lucky enough to be a part of it, it was a lot of fun to watch and to play a small part in," he said. "But I cannot underestimate the role that [Murnane] really played in the university's development."