James A. Conway, retired UB professor

Conway

James Arthur Conway, 74, of Siesta Key, Fla., and West Hartford, Conn., and formerly of Amherst, a retired University at Buffalo professor, died Thursday, June 28, 2007.

Born in Bronxville, N.Y., he was raised in Riverdale and graduated from Fordham Preparatory School and then the University at Albany in 1954. He received a master's degree in school administration from Columbia University in 1955. He then entered the Army, serving with the counter-intelligence corps in Japan. Returning from the United States, he taught eighth-grade mathematics at the Benjamin Franklin Junior High School in Yonkers.

In 1963, he received the first earned doctorate to be awarded by UB. During the last year of his doctoral program, he was acting principal of Saratoga Springs Junior High, where he met his future wife, Linda Hyde. They were married in 1963 and moved to Buffalo.

Mr. Conway first taught for Buffalo State College, then in 1967, joined UB's faculty in educational administration. In his stay at UB, he authored several books and numerous articles focusing on various aspects of leadership in education.

He had been a visiting professor at the University of Miami; Didsbury College, England; the University College, Galway, Ireland; the Principal's Center at Harvard University; and was a consultant at Oxford University, England.

Mr. Conway was a life member of Phi Delta Kappa, the Edward Eldred Potter Club, AERA, an executive committee member of the University Council for Educational Administration, the Great Debate Society of UB, and the Erie-Niagara School Superintendent Association.

He was a communicant at Christ the King Church in Snyder, Newman Center at UB, and St. Michael the Archangel Church in Siesta Key. His wood carving skills were exhibited in shows in Florida and in homes of family and friends. He was also an avid gardener.

Mr. Conway is survived by his wife of 44 years, Linda Hyde; three sons, Dr. James of Madison, Wis., Matthew of West Hartford, Conn., and Christopher of Chicago; two sisters, Betty Ricciardi of Croton, N.Y., and Barbara Burchell of Riverdale, N.J.; and six grandchildren.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, July 7 at the Newman Center at UB, 495 Skinnersville Road, Amherst.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Newman Center at the University at Buffalo.