Dr. Thomas HearnAugust 18, 2008 | Denise FranklinMemorial plans are being finalized for former Wake Forest University president Dr. Thomas K. Hearn, Jr. This morning, he died in his Winston-Salem home after battling brain cancer. He was 71. A memorial for Dr. Hearn is tentatively planned this Friday in Wait Chapel on the Wake Forest campus.
Dr. Hearn joined Wake Forest University in 1983 as the school's 12th president. During his 22-year tenture, he initiated many changes that elevated Wake Forest into the national ranks as one of the top 30 universities in the United States. Other accomplishments include, ending the school's ties to the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, serving as one of the founders of Leadership Winston-Salem and playing active roles in the development of the Piedmont Triad Research Park and Ideal Alliance.
In 2003, Dr. Hearn was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and eventually he retired in 2005. Later that summer, Dr. Hearn sat down with WFDD's Denise Franklin on Voices & Viewpoints to discuss his professional accomplishments as a university president in addition to how brain cancer enhanced his life.
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