Dan DaranciangTell us about your background-where you were born, where you grew up, your family, and your education. Did you attend college and/or job training? Where?
I was born and raised in Durham, a small town in the North of England best known for its magnificent Norman cathedral. I attended public schools (in the American sense of that term) before studying philosophy, politics, and economics at New College, Oxford University. After a three-month tour of the US with the British National Debate Team and a brief stint as a management consultant in London, I entered graduate school at Harvard, where I completed a Ph.D. in Political Science. While at Harvard I worked as an assistant senior tutor in Lowell House and as an assistant dean in the Summer School, which set me on the path to my current position at Washington University.
What brought you to Wash. U.?
My wife, Lola, is a medical student at Wash. U.
What is your favorite memory of working as a dean?
Finding out that my students have earned national recognition (and a lot of money!) through success in scholarship competitions.
What was your most memorable project while attending college?
Playing the cello in a terrific chamber orchestra, especially the term when we performed “Metamorphosen” by Richard Strauss.
Is there a guiding principle in your life?
I take moral philosophy seriously; it’s important to me to be able to provide consistent and compelling justifications, to myself and others, for my choices and actions.
Can you name some of your past works and achievements?
I was a Frank Knox Fellow at Harvard, which is similar to being a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. My Ph.D. dissertation explores the goals of education policy in liberal states and their implications for religious schools.
I won various debate competitions in high school and college. I was a semi-finalist at the World Universities Debating Championships in 1998, and I subsequently judged at the World Schools Debating Championships for six years (on five different continents).
What is the best thing about being a dean?
Working with individual students on all aspects of their undergraduate education. Given my broad interests in education policy and philosophy of education, I’m glad to have a roving brief.
Something interesting that many people don’t know about you is…?
I’m fascinated by North Korea, televangelism, and the MTV-culture.
What do you hope to accomplish in the coming year?
Many things. But above all I hope to help every one of my advisees to find and pursue an intellectual passion.