Former AACRAO Executive Director Wayne Becraft passed away unexpectedly on Friday, January 11, 2019. He was 74.
Becraft served as Executive Director from 1988-1999. He began his career in higher education at University of Maryland University College, serving as Director of Admissions and Registrations from 1968 to 1987. He attended AACRAO meetings during that time and in 1985-86 he was selected to be Chair of the Local Arrangements committee for the 1986 meeting in Baltimore. In 1987, AACRAO decided to hire its first Associate Director (under Director Doug Connor and alongside Assistant to the Director Laurie Robinson). The search committee held interviews for the finalists at the 1987 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas and selected Becraft. He was hired as Director when Connor retired in 1988.
As Director from 1988 to 1998, Wayne brought a number of positive changes to AACRAO. He established the first Technology Conference and the first Transfer Conference and created AACRAO's office of International Education Credentials Services.
After leaving AACRAO in 1999, Becraft served as Executive Director of the American Physical Therapy Association of Maryland and Associate Dean of the University of Maryland School of Nursing. Later he worked a realtor for Long & Foster until his untimely passing on January 11, 2019. He is missed by all that knew him.
Read his obituary here.