Jim Dickey

Jim Dickey, the ASA’s committees coordinator, passed away February 20. He was 63.

Jim, in his office, 2005

Jim came to the ASA in 1999 to assist the program director, Mary Fleming, in a number of projects, including cataloguing the ASA library and bringing the bound volumes of ASA journals up to date. Within a year, he took on the overall responsibility for the association’s more than 50 committees and assisted the ASA’s president-elect in making committee appointment and reappointments.

“Jim’s role at the ASA was like Jim—quiet, but deep,” said Ron Wasserstein, the ASA’s executive director. “Coordinating committees sounds unimportant until you realize that those committees are extensions of the ASA Board of Directors. Work that is essential to the mission of the ASA goes on in those committees. By seeing that they worked well, Jim contributed deeply to the mission of the association and to the quality of the experience of our volunteers. And on a personal level, I’ll miss our hallway chats. Jim knew amazing background stories about movies and musicals.”

In addition to enjoying movies and musicals, Jim loved cats, was an avid reader, and rode his bike to work nearly every day.

Jim once wrote that he thought of himself as Sir Humphrey Appleby on the British TV series Yes, Minister. Sir Humphrey—having been head of the civil service in the Ministry of Administrative Affairs for years—knew everything about the day-to-day workings of his department. Like Humphrey, Jim hoped he would be able to use his knowledge to help the ASA’s members achieve their goals and make the system operate as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

Jim was preceded in death by his mother and father. He is survived by his brother, Bill, and Bill’s wife, Theresa.