He has brought the Clark community together, increased our resources, led an important strategic planning effort and successfully integrated Clark into its Main South neighborhood. He has worked hard to be an ambassador for Clark, both in Worcester and around the world, and that work has paid wonderful dividends to the University. Dick and Polly will be missed by all of their many friends and colleagues at Clark. It has been a period characterized by self-reflection that led to focused change. He made the neighborhood part of the campus and our campus part of the neighborhood community, to the benefit of both.
Academic leadership is an oxymoron that has been described as akin to herding cats.
Dick Traina has been a loving shepherd. I will miss his broad grin, his unbounded devotion to Clark, and his kind words. We all will.