Remembering Tom DiLorenzo
Thomas Michael DiLorenzo, recently retired provost and vice president for academic affairs at UND, died July 17, 2020, in Charleston, S.C. He was 63.
A lifelong learner, teacher, leader in higher education and lover of his family and life itself, he was born in Greensburg, Pa., to Emil and Mary Jane DiLorenzo.
Tom was the valedictorian of his high school class in Jeannette, Pa., and went on to the University of Pittsburgh, where he graduated cum laude with degrees in economics and psychology. He earned his doctorate of philosophy degree in clinical psychology from West Virginia University.
Upon completion of his graduate degree, Tom joined the faculty at the University of Missouri, where he rose through the ranks to become chair of the Department of Psychology. In 1999, he was named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Delaware, where he met his future wife, Suzanne Austin. Tom moved to Birmingham, Ala., in 2010, when he was named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Suzanne arrived later and served UAB as senior vice provost.
Tom was named provost and senior vice president at the University of North Dakota, a position from which he retired in June, 2020. He and his work are memorialized in a recent UND Today story.
Tom and Suzanne moved to Charleston July 1, 2020. He loved cooking and traveling.
Tom was known in higher education circles for his servant leadership with an eye toward the bedrock principles of shared governance with faculty, staff and students. He was a true advocate for and a steward of the institutions he served. He provided clear-eyed guidance for his universities in a multitude of issues, including affordability, access, state funding, diversity and inclusion, free expression of speech on campus and economic development at the local, state and national levels.
Tom is survived by his wife, Suzanne; her daughter, Lilla Alchon (Alex Dickson), both of Washington, D.C.; his daughter, Kendall Wagner, (Alex Wagner), and grandchildren, Keegan and Harper, all of Newark, Del.; and son, Nathan DiLorenzo (Angela Tomaso), and grandchild, Brooklyn, all of Des Plaines, Ill. He also is survived by brothers, John, of Greensburg, Mark, of Hermitage, and stepbrothers, Rick and Don Holtzman, of Atlanta, Ga., and Mechanicsburg, respectively.
Tom’s family asks that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to the UND Food for Thought Pantry.
