Donald C. Curran, who celebrated his Jan. 3, 1997, retirement at a party in his honor on Dec. 11, early exhibited the qualities that made him a leader at the Library for the past 34 years.
In 1953-57, Lt. Curran served in the U.S. Air Force as a performance engineer, flying B-36 bombers with the 6th Bomb Wing in New Mexico. Later, he served at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base as an engineering officer.
"His common sense was expressed in his ability to work, and work with people," said his commanding officer in an evaluation. Another officer described Mr. Curran as "level headed, firm, and a determined individual" with a "fine personality, promising promotional material and possessing natural leadership qualities by virtue of his personal bearing and personality."
Even more insightful was the comment of an Air Force lieutenant, who said Mr. Curran possessed "what I feel to be the necessary ingredients for the good public servant.
"Given a challenging assignment and presented with the opportunity of career development with the incentive of making a public contribution, I feel the candidate could become a very able government administrator at a high level," the officer said in an evaluation.
Rising Through Ranks
Born May 26, 1933, in St. Louis, Mr. Curran attended Theodore Roosevelt High School and graduated cum laude, first in his class, from St. Louis University with a bachelor's degree in science and commerce in 1959. That year, he became a civil servant at the Bureau of Old Age and Survivor Insurance in Baltimore, where he worked as a management intern for 15 months.
In 1960 George Washington University awarded him a graduate teaching fellowship in public administration. In 1961 Mr. Curran joined the Library, where over the course of his career he served three Librarians - Quincy Mumford, Daniel Boorstin and Dr. Billington. During that time, he held many positions in many departments.
From 1961 to 1969, Mr. Curran worked as an administrative officer and a management analyst in three departments: the Legislative Reference Service; the Reference Department, which had control over all of the reading rooms; and the Administrative Department.
In 1969 the peripatetic Mr. Curran took a job as budget officer in the Budget Office, where he advanced to chief of financial management. By 1976 he had risen to the third highest position in the Library - associate librarian of Congress. In that capacity, Mr. Curran served as chairman of the Library-wide Committee on Automation Planning and directly supervised the Internal Audit Office, the Library Environment Resources Office and the Office of General Counsel.
In March 1985 he received a Superior Service Award for his work on the Library's mass deacidification facility to preserve brittle materials. In October of that year, Librarian Boorstin gave Mr. Curran another Superior Service Award - this time for "exemplary service," as acting register of copyrights.
In 1989 Dr. Billington appointed Mr. Curran acting associate librarian for constituent services, a title that became his permanently in December 1990. When the Library was reorganized in 1995, Mr. Curran assumed his last post - senior adviser for program planning and evaluation - a position he will hold until Jan. 3, 1997.
Dr. Billington formally presented Mr. Curran with the Distinguished Service Award and noted his "unwavering dedication to the Library," his integrity and the depth of his experience.
