Dan W. Andersen

Dan W. Andersen was an educational administrator, having served as the first president of Brigham Young University Hawaii from 1974 to 1980. He was serving as president of the Church College of Hawaii at the time it was elevated in rank and renamed. Under his leadership the university prepared for and, in 1976, received a full ten-year accreditation by the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).

Andersen was born on January 13, 1927, in Salt Lake City, Utah. He served as student body president of West High School. After graduation he served in the US Army in the Panama Canal Zone.

He received his bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Utah, his master’s degree in education from the University of Southern California, and his PhD degree in education from the University of Wisconsin. He was a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin before he worked in the Church Educational System at the Church College of Hawaii, then at BYU-Hawaii as president. Prior to his retirement he was dean of the College of Education at Brigham Young University.

Andersen served as a full-time missionary to Denmark, Western Samoa, and New York. He served as a bishopric counselor, a stake presidency counselor, a stake high councilman, and a branch president. He was also a temple sealer.

His first wife, Lina, passed away in 1987. He then married Sabra Whittle and she passed away in 1989. He then married Gloria Driggs. He was the father to twelve children. He passed away on August 20, 2013.