John Orman, former CFL chair, passes away

John will be sorely missed. The world needs people like him.

By CHRISTOPHER KEATING, The Hartford Courant
John M. Orman, a well-known political science professor at Fairfield University who considered running for the U.S. Senate in 2005 against incumbent Joseph I. Lieberman, died suddenly on Sunday night.

Orman was one of the university's best-known professors as he was widely quoted in newspapers around the state, along with national television outlets like CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and National Public Radio. His death was announced Monday by the university, where he had been a teacher since 1978.

In line with his mantra of telling his students to get involved in politics, Orman ran as a Democrat for the U.S. Congress in 1984 against longtime incumbent Rep. Stewart McKinney, a powerhouse at the time in Fairfield County politics. McKinney won, as usual, but Orman gained enough publicity that he was quoted even more often on political races in the coming years. After his defeat, Orman invited McKinney to speak to his students in class.

Two decades later, Orman considered running against Lieberman in 2006 - before throwing his support to little-known Greenwich entrepreneur Ned Lamont, whose campaign generated national attention by defeating Lieberman in the August 2006 primary. Lamont, a former member of Greenwich's board of selectmen and 12-member Board of Estimate and Taxation, then lost to Lieberman in the general election.

As the chairman of the political science department at Fairfield, Orman authored or co-authored five books, including "Celebrity Politics'' that was written with a Brown University professor, Darrell West. Orman was once named the "Teacher of the Year'' at Fairfield, and his classes included examinations of the U.S. Congress, the Presidency, public opinion, and policy-making, among others.

Still seeking new challenges after more than 30 years in teaching, Orman recently traveled to the Ukraine to deliver lectures about the 2008 presidential election of Democrat Barack Obama. While there, he participated in interviews on Radio Free Europe Ukraine and the Vatican radio station.