Celebration of Life
A celebration of life for Dave Fleming will be held on Monday, May 22, at 4 p.m. in the Samuel J. Cadden Chapel on the campus of Clemson University. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Clemson University Foundation for the Dean’s Excellence Fund-Graduate School, in memory of Dave Fleming to P.O. Box 1889, Clemson, S.C., 29633.
Obituary
Clemson University mourns the death of David B. “Dave” Fleming ‘71, research associate in the Graduate School and an employee of the University for more than 50 years, who passed away on April 8, 2023.
“‘Data Dave,’ as he was known, was an essential part of the Graduate School and Clemson University as a whole,” said Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School John Lopes. “His commitment to this University over more than fifty years was and will continue to be an inspiration for me and for all of his colleagues. His patience, sense of humor, and compassion for all will be remembered for a very long time.”
He graduated on a Friday and started his full-time job in the registrar’s office the following Monday in May 1971, beginning a career that would take him from circuit boards in the basement of Tillman Hall to modern, cutting-edge software. He and two other employees spent three months creating an entirely new registration system, one that would be used at Clemson for more than 20 years.
Fleming went on to become Clemson’s first director of institutional research in the 1990s. Fleming retired for the first time in 2003, but it only lasted a few months. Then-Provost Dori Helms asked Fleming to help conduct a 10-year PhD study, which led to his position at the Graduate School.
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) provides grief counseling to students. Any student who wants to speak to a counselor should contact CAPS at 864-656-2451. An after-hours CAPS counselor can be reached by calling 864-656-2451and selecting option 2 to speak to a counselor.
Counseling services are also available to faculty and staff through ComPysch, the University’s Employee Assistance Program provider, at 866-365-0813.
Clemson University Obituaries
Obituaries for active employees, retirees and current students are issued by Marketing and Communications once we are able to confirm the information. Since faculty and staff live and work throughout the state, we depend on university departments, colleagues or friends to notify us of the deaths of active employees and retirees.
