Dr. Edward L. Delaney, Jr.

Trappe, Maryland. We lost Dr. Edward L Delaney, Jr. on January 6, 2025. Born on July 5, 1940, in White Plains, NY, Ed was the son of Blanche Adelaide Foxwell and Edward Lawrence Delaney and the beloved husband of Dr. Elizabeth L Anderson (Betty). Ed spent his early years riding horses, sailing, and scouting with his loving family. He demonstrated early leadership skills and a strong interest in service to others, earning accolades throughout his schooling. Influenced by Augustinian Friars’ lectures on service, Ed chose to leave high school to attend the Augustinian preparatory school and the St Augustine Seminary in Kansas City, where he launched his studies in classical Latin, Greek, and philosophy. Upon graduation, he continued four years of study at the University of Salamanca, Spain and traveled extensively with scholars and sponsors throughout Spain, France, Portugal, Germany, Britain and, in summers, attended the University of Madrid, and University of San Sebastian. On the Isle of Jersey, he resonated with Teilhard de Chardin’ s view of religion beyond traditional Catholic orthodoxy and Harvey Cox’s situational ethics. From the University of Salamanca, Ed earned his SLB and STL, magna cum laude. Ed was ordained July 7, 1967, and celebrated his first mass at Mt. Carmel Church, his childhood home parish. Ed then was appointed to positions of dean and professor of religious studies, existential philosophy, moral theology, and sociology at various colleges in New York and Connecticut and graduated with two master’s degrees respectively from Manhattan College and New York University. Ed believed always that the Catholic Church must progress from traditional dogma to the modern era. Pope John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council,1962-1965, inspired his hope but by 1972, his personal, intellectual, and academic passions led him to the decision to resign from the Augustinian Order and priesthood and begin to define his new life as a lay person. Ed enrolled at New York University, served on state and local educational commissions and taught at local colleges to finance his education. While serving as a professor at Rutgers University, he completed his dissertation at New York University and received his PhD in 1977. Subsequently, Ed served in various research, administrative, and planning positions in higher education and human rights in New Jersey and Connecticut. These experiences led him to the position of Professor and Vice President for Institutional Planning at George Mason University (GMU), a post he held for about a decade, playing a significant role in the GMU transition from a satellite of the University of Virginia to a major metropolitan University. He worked tirelessly with many scholars and administrators to reform and refine standards in higher education. Ed was a member of the Association for Institutional Research (AIR) since 1995, a thousand plus, international organization dedicated to utilizing data, analytics, information, and evidence to make decisions and take action that benefit students in higher education. He served as President in 1992. He remained bonded to the organization, especially to a small group of prior AIR presidents who tagged themselves ‘the sensitive guys,’ routinely traveling together for ‘walk abouts’ following their annual AIR meetings. These ‘guys’ remained bonded, sharing common goals and marvels of humor and laughter during their zoom calls and emails to this day. In 1976 Ed met and married his late wife, Eileen Shanahan, an English teacher, and author. They pursued their careers, sailed the Chesapeake Bay, and rode horses at the home they made in Virginia, until Eileen’s tragic death in 1992 from a car accident. The world of boating soon led Ed to Betty Anderson, who had lost her husband all too early following the diagnosis of terminal cancer at age 48. Betty had a sailboat….a bigger boat. While sailing introduced them, they bonded at many levels to celebrate the joy of life, as both prior spouses had wished. They explored the Bay with countless numbers of friends and family and on June 8, 1996, they were married in Alexandria, Virginia at the historic Christ Church. They bought their home in Trappe, MD (1997), ‘their’ Little Harbor sailboat, and thus created a new chapter of romance, sailing, traveling, painting, reading, exploring, and serving others. Following retirement from GMU, Ed began service to Maryland’s Eastern Shore wetlands and waterfowl. He was appointed to the Board of the former Wildfowl Trust of North America (WTNA, Grasonville, MD) and then persuaded to serve as Executive Director of the Trust for 1 year, lasting for 6 years. A copy of Sir Peter’s Scott’s Wildfowl Trust in the UK (Slimbridge), WTNA housed many beautiful species of waterfowl that thrived on its acres of wetlands. One of Ed’s more interesting memories during that period was working with the late scientific explorer, William Slayden, birthing geese and trumpeter swans at the facility, imprinting them with humans as parents, and teaching them their lost flyways with ultralight aircraft. Also, Ed served for more than a decade on the Waterfowl Festival Board (Easton, MD), and the Shore Leadership Board. For the Waterfowl Festival, he served as Chair of the Master Classes where leading artists taught painting and wood carving lessons. Once involved, he became a student and continued his interest in oil painting for the rest of his life. Ed was a member of the Holy Trinity Church (vestry member), the Tred Avon Yacht Club, the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Club, the Poplar Island Yacht Club, and the Talbot Country Club, Additionally, in the U. S. Virgin Islands where he and Betty spent their winters, he was a member of the St Croix Yacht Club, the St Croix Country Club, and the Ha’ Penny Bay Beach Club. Far from pious, Ed had a stubborn, moral vector that predictably defined right and wrong and when visiting the archeological site of Delphi, identified with the ageless oracle of “Know Thyself.” With a gift for communication, Ed easily connected with and felt that everyone had value. Life was a pilgrimage in which he sought to learn, serve, listen, and always encourage others to do so. ‘Buen Camino.” Ed is survived by his wife of 28 years, Dr. Elizabeth L Anderson (Betty), his nephew, Robert Delaney, Miami, FL, Betty’s niece, Cassandra Anderson Satterfield (Isaac and Abigail), numerous cousins, and the Shannahan family. He is predeceased by his grandparents, Mary and Frank Foxwell, and William and Wilhelmina Delaney; his parents, Blanche Adelaide Foxwell and Edward Lawrence Delaney; his brothers, Dickie, and Robert; and Florence Foxwell (Aunt "Sis"). Ed’s unexpected death resulted from an undetected cerebral aneurysm. The family thanks Dr Thomas Scalea, Director of the Shock Trauma Center, University of Maryland Medical Center for his personal care of Ed and the family. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Association for Institutional Research (AIR), Attn: Dr. Edward L Delaney, Jr Scholarship Fund, Dept. 177, P.O. Box 850001, Orlando, FL 32885 A celebration of life will be held in the spring at the Church of the Holy Trinity, Oxford, MD.

Dr. Edward L. Delaney, Jr.

July 5, 1940 - January 6, 2025