Living his life under what he called "an ethic of caring," his small gestures — handwritten notes, unexpected phone calls of encouragement — were appreciated by those he touched.

Usually people have to die or donate a heck of a lot of money to get a building named after them, but that wasn’t the case with James Rhatigan.

Mr. Rhatigan worked with students for decades at Wichita State and was part of the university for nearly 60 years.

During the course of a five-decade career at WSU, Rhatigan assumed the role of dean of students in 1965 at the age of 30, making him the youngest in the

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Wichita State University education professor and senior vice president emeritus James Rhatigan has died at 89. Rhatigan joined the university in 1965 and became its

James Rhatigan, Wichita State’s former dean of students and senior vice president of Student Affairs, died Sunday morning after being admitted to hospice the day prior. At 30 years old, Rhatigan assumed the role of dean of students in 1965,

James Rhatigan, former dean of students and senior vice president of Student Affairs at Wichita State University, died Sunday morning. Rhatigan worked at the university for almost six decades and was a national figure in educational activism.