Bill Text: VA SR166 | 2024 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Celebrating the life of Dana Bertrand Hamel.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Passed) 2024-03-08 - Bill text as passed Senate (SR166ER) [SR166 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-SR166-Enrolled.html
WHEREAS, Dana Bertrand Hamel, an esteemed educator who guided the creation of the Virginia Community College System, died on June 23, 2023; and
WHEREAS, Dana Hamel was born in Rumford, Maine, in 1923, and moved to East Conemaugh, Pennsylvania, with his family at a young age; and
WHEREAS, Dana Hamel helped his father run the family jewelry store, where their skills at watch repair were in high demand among the local railroad and mine workers; and
WHEREAS, during World War II, Dana Hamel joined many young men of his generation in service to the nation as a member of the United States Army Air Forces and deployed to the Pacific Theater as a chaplain's assistant; and
WHEREAS, after his honorable military service, Dana Hamel returned to Pennsylvania, married his wife, Shirley, and opened his own store, Hamel's Jewelers, which he operated until his twin brother convinced him to enroll at Ashland College, now Ashland University, in Ohio; and
WHEREAS, Dana Hamel earned a bachelor's degree from Ashland College, received a master's degree and completed additional postgraduate studies in psychology, then subsequently completed a doctorate in education at the University of Cincinnati, cultivating a passion for higher education that informed the rest of his professional career; and
WHEREAS, Dana Hamel taught management for General Motors in Dayton, Ohio, until he became the dean of students at the Ohio Mechanics Institute, then later served as acting president of the institution after it became the Ohio College of Applied Science; and
WHEREAS, in 1963, Dana Hamel came to the Commonwealth as the director of the Roanoke Technical Institute, a division of what is now Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; and
WHEREAS, the following year, Governor Albertis Harrison selected Dana Hamel to develop a system of technical schools throughout the Commonwealth, which quickly became the basis of the Virginia Community College System; and
WHEREAS, Dana Hamel's experience and expertise were critical to the early foundation of the Virginia Community College System, and he was proud to watch his successors take the system to greater heights year after year, changing the lives of generations of students for the better; and
WHEREAS, in 1984, Dana Hamel was called upon again, this time by Governor Chuck Robb, who asked him to create and serve as the director of the Virginia Center for Public and Private Initiatives, which was instrumental to the establishment of what is now the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility; and
WHEREAS, Dana Hamel inspired others through his integrity, humility, unfailing optimism, and enthusiasm for the future, demonstrated by his signature phrase, "It's a great day to be alive in the Commonwealth"; and
WHEREAS, predeceased by his beloved wife of 61 years, Shirley, Dana Hamel will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by his children, Randy, Michelle, and April, and their families; and numerous other family members, friends, and colleagues; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate of Virginia hereby note with great sadness the loss of Dana Bertrand Hamel, a distinguished servant-leader who reshaped higher education in the Commonwealth through his role in the establishment of the Virginia Community College System; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Dana Bertrand Hamel as an expression of the Senate of Virginia's respect for his memory.
