Passing: Vernon Tryon
Submitted by Michael Hacker, Ph.D., of Hofstra University.
It is with the deepest sadness that I share the news of the passing of Dr. Vernon Tryon (1937-2025), a true legend in our field.
Vernon served as Chair of the Department of Technology Education at SUNY Oswego for 25 years before his retirement. His visionary leadership helped guide the profession through some of its most challenging times—and elevated it to new heights.
He was instrumental in securing Technology Education’s place as a mandated subject in New York State secondary schools from 1986 to 2017. During his tenure at Oswego and as an active, inspiring leader of the New York State Technology Educators Association, Vernon helped usher in what many regard as the Golden Age of our field.
He spoke with passion and authority about the power of Technology Education—and moved people to become its advocates, by highlighting its ability to engage students through relevant, hands-on learning, and to illuminate the opportunities and challenges that technology presents to individuals, society, and culture.
But Vernon was more than a professional leader—he was a remarkable human being. A devoted husband (after 61 years of marriage, his beloved wife, June, passed away in late 2021), father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, he also served as a role model and mentor to generations of college students who followed his footsteps into careers in teaching Technology Education. Among them is his son, Daniel Tryon, now an Associate Professor in the very same Technology Education Department at Oswego.
I remember Vernon with deep affection—for his sincerity and kindness, his visionary and unwavering leadership, his dry humor, and above all, the ethical integrity with which he conducted every aspect of his life.
As a profession, we owe Dr. Vernon Tryon an enormous debt of gratitude for his lifetime of dedicated service. His legacy continues to shine through the Technology Education program at SUNY Oswego—still the largest undergraduate program of its kind in the nation, and one that continues to reflect the values and standards that Vernon championed so powerfully. He would be infinitely proud of the staff that carries on his traditions.
May Vern’s memory be a blessing.