Aronson calls Flanigan “a textbook illustration of institutional memory who wields power in the nicest of ways. He doesn’t rule by authority but by competence.”

Born and raised in Conyers, Ga., Flanigan holds an MBA from Emory University. He joined Spelman after an 18- month stint with the Arthur Andersen accounting giant. As an entry-level assistant at Spelman in 1970, his responsibilities varied from basic bookkeeping and field analysis to running errands for his superiors.

Flanigan has become an elder statesman in the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), which honored him in 1997 with its annual Distinguished Business Officer Award.

For nearly a decade at NACUBO’s annual conference, he has led roundtable discussions centered on minority issues. Over the years, the number of participants has grown from 10 people to well over 70 representing a wide spectrum of institutions. “At first, only people of color came to it, but that has expanded a lot.” Flanigan has noticed through these forums that small, financially strapped schools are increasingly facing the same types of problems as their large, wealthier counterparts, meaning minority- serving institutions “are now much more in the mainstream.”

“The challenges are the same among everyone in the room, whether it’s Harvard or a school of 500 students. It’s technology, it’s curriculum, it’s federal policies, it’s student needs.”

Back at Spelman, Flanigan regards his work as more of a passion than a job because “of the young women whose lives we enrich.”

“They leave here with so much sophistication, so much intelligence. It’s heart-warming to think that in some small way I had something to do with that.”