Sifferlen served 40 years in various capacities in two-year colleges: Two at Miami-Jacobs Career College, and 38 at Sinclair in a range of roles, starting at the Monument Street/YMCA campus just before Sinclair won approval to become a community college.
He started at Sinclair in 1965 as a business technologies professor before becoming business dean in 1969. He was then named vice president for administration, vice president for academics, provost and became the college’s fourth president in 1997.
Sifferlen’s retirement also saw him granted the honorific position of President Emeritus. In 2010, he was honored with the building naming of the health and sciences center. In 2017, the college opened a new $31.5 million, 141,000-square-foot Ned J. Sifferlen Health Sciences Center.
Upon Sifferlen’s retirement, Jerry Tatar, the then-chairman of Sinclair’s board of trustees, lauded Sifferlen’s presidential tenure.
“I always thought that one of the hardest things to do is to take an already good institution and make it better,” Tatar said then. “But Ned has made a big difference.”
Steven Johnson, who moved from provost to president at Sinclair when Sifferlen retired, said his predecessor was “a professional and personal mentor to so many at Sinclair and in the community.”
“From the start of his career, he embraced Sinclair’s mission to find the need and endeavor to meet it through his incomparable dedication to student and community success,” Johnson said via email. “He was the leader that others looked up to for guidance and he managed in a way that was inclusive and respectful. Sinclair Community College is a world-class institution because of his leadership and generations of students have benefitted from his commitment to academic excellence.”
Sifferlen also served as a fundraiser and volunteer. The Changing Lives campaign he chaired raised a record-breaking $13.2 million.
In addition to his work at Sinclair, he served on numerous boards around Montgomery County including the Montgomery County Scholarships, Premier Health and Dayton Power and Light Boards, plus the Education Committee for Think TV.
Sifferlen also served as a consultant for the American Council on Education and helped establish community colleges internationally.
He received honors from the Dayton Chamber of Commerce, President’s Clubs as Citizen of the Year. Also, he was recognized by National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ), Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Wright Dunbar Walk of Fame and the University of Dayton Alumni Special Achievement Award.
Sifferlen, a Dayton native, was born to Edmond and Anna Sifferlen Oct. 29, 1941. He attended Our Lady of Mercy Elementary School and Chaminade High School. Sifferlen earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Business Education from the University of Dayton, as well as a doctorate degree from the University of Cincinnati.
He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Joyce; twin daughters Kathy (Tony) Greene and Karen (Doug) Newell, plus six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
A funeral service already has been held. Donations can be made to the Sinclair Community College Foundation.
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