Ron "Doc" Frazer '45
The Lambda DU flower arrangement in front of the memorial podium.
Brother • Class of 1945
Ron “Doc” Frazer
“Doc” , a brother, one of Lambda’s most devoted advisors, teacher and friend to generations of brothers”
Clarkson Remembers Ronald Frazer '45 "Father of Women's Hockey"
J. Ronald Frazer '45, Centennial Professor in the School of Business and "Father" of Clarkson Women's Hockey passed away on Tuesday, September 6 surrounded by his family, and wife, Doris. A memorial service celebrating his life will be held Saturday, September 10, 2011, at 2 p.m. at the Barben Room overlooking Cheel Arena. Arrangements are with the Seymour Funeral Home in Potsdam, NY.
Frazer was a 1945 Clarkson mechanical engineering graduate and went on to Iowa State for his PhD in industrial engineering and economics. Born in Ottawa, Ontario, he skated at forward on the Clarkson men's ice hockey teams during the 1942-43 and 1943-44 seasons under coach Jack Roos, recording 23 goals and 10 assists through 15 games. Before attending Clarkson he was a leading scorer for Nepean High School and the Ottawa Junior Senators.
A 2004 Clarkson Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee, Frazer made a more profound impact on Clarkson's hockey tradition, however, as the "Father" of Women's Hockey at Clarkson. Frazer, along with his wife Doris, played a highly significant role in establishing the foundation for the Golden Knights' current Division I women's hockey team.
With women's sports emerging at the collegiate level in the mid-1970s, Frazer started Clarkson's original intercollegiate women's hockey program with nothing but true "walk-ons". Drawing from the 184 women undergraduates on campus, Frazer gathered 17 student-athletes for Clarkson's first women's team in the winter of 1974. The Knights won their first game with an impressive 7-0 victory over Potsdam with senior center Joan Carroll '75 scoring the first of her five goals just 22 seconds after the opening faceoff. Clarkson, which also posted wins over Colgate and Boston University during that inaugural season, finished with a 5-2 record in the 1974-75 campaign.
During his nine-year tenure guiding "Frazer's Blazers", the Green and Gold compiled a 68-64-3 record, but more importantly provided Clarkson student-athletes with plenty of sportsmanship, camaraderie and lasting memories. The Knights' best season was in 1977-78 when the team finished with nine consecutive wins to post an 11-5 mark.
Frazer is also known for playing in more alumni hockey games than any other Golden Knights alumnus, participating annually from 1953 until 1978. Many Potsdam youth hockey players also benefited from Frazer's coaching talents. He coached the Potsdam Pee Wee’s and the Bantam All-Stars, who won seven state championships between 1954-64, as well as being the first winners of the international Silver Stick Tournament.
Dr. Frazer exerted a profound and unequaled impact in shaping the character and mission of management education at Clarkson. He served as a professor, chairman and Dean from 1953 until his first retirement in 1988. He came out of retirement several times to teach courses in the graduate program. His leadership was critical in elevating the then School of Management to national prominence and he was named one of just four Centennial Professors in 1996.
Connecting business courses to the "real world," Frazer pioneered more effective teaching and learning strategies through his innovative development of simulation games. As well, he was the original architect of Clarkson's M.S. in Manufacturing program, which further advanced the competitive market stature of what is today the School of Business.
A creative scholar, he authored two books on business simulation games, along with a text on applied linear programming. In addition, during his more than 35 years of service before taking emeritus faculty status, he infused the climate of business education at Clarkson with a legacy of vitality, unfailing good humor, and an uncanny ability to generate camaraderie among students and colleagues.
On July 17, 1993, Frazer was presented with Clarkson's Arnold H. Barben Award. The award is presented to a Clarkson hockey alumnus who has demonstrated outstanding professional achievement, has contributed to the betterment of his community and has worked unselfishly for his alma mater. In 1990, he was named a Golden Knight, the Clarkson Alumni Association's highest honor.
Frazer was a founding committee member of the Clarkson Athletic Department Hall of Fame and inducted into the Hall in 2004. He also served as a member at large on the Alumni Council. Over his lifetime of commitment and caring to Clarkson, Frazer demonstrated exemplary service both on the ice as a coach and in the classroom as a professor.
Dr. Frazer married his high school sweetheart, Doris C. Frazer, on August 28, 1948 and they celebrated their 63rd anniversary last week. He is survived by his wife, Doris; their five children: Kathy Frazer Winsted, Yorktown, NY; Patti Frazer Lock, Canton, NY; Michael J. Frazer, Canton, NY; Judy Frazer Graham, Rochester, NY; and R. Bruce Frazer, St. Louis, MO; and 13 grandchildren.