Gary Grandon

Dr Gary Grandon died at his Greensboro home of 41 years on 20 September 2026, aged 77. No cause of death was made public. The Greensboro News & Record published his obituary on Legacy.com on 22 September 2026. A memorial service was held on 24 September 2026 at Temple Emanuel, 1129 Jefferson Road, Greensboro, with committal at Greensboro Hebrew Cemetery. The family suggested donations to Temple Emanuel or North Carolina for Community and Justice.

Gary Grandon was born on 24 November 1948 in Detroit, Michigan, to Samuel Grandon and Sylvia Grandon Goldstein. He graduated from Mumford High School and often joked about the school whenever Beverly Hills Cop showed Eddie Murphy in a Mumford PE shirt. He earned a B.S. in physics at the University of Michigan, a master's in educational evaluation and measurement at Wayne State University, and a Ph.D. in educational psychology, evaluation and measurement at the University of Connecticut, studying with Ellis B. Page and others. As a young man he worked briefly at Ford Motor Company before focusing on teaching and educational research.

Grandon began as a substitute teacher in inner-city Detroit and as a physics teacher in suburban Michigan. He later managed computational work connected with the Roper Center and developed early microcomputer statistical and medical decision software, including A-Stat. He was Associate Director for Academic and Research Services at the University of South Florida Computing Center, then Director of Academic Computing and Associate Vice Chancellor for Information Technology at UNC Greensboro, where he also chaired the North Carolina Education and Research Network. From 2001 he helped build the American Hebrew Academy's technology rich campus and served as principal and COO before becoming Principal Emeritus. With Jane Rosen-Grandon he ran Rosen Grandon Associates in Greensboro.

Grandon married Dr Jane Rosen-Grandon; they were together for more than 52 years and had two children, Ben Grandon and Jessie Schlosberg, and grandchildren Samantha and Jacob. He was active at Temple Emanuel as Brotherhood president and a founding member of the Shofar Chorale, and he served as sergeant at arms of the Rotary Club of Greensboro. He loved music, model building and, in retirement, guitar lutherie in his living room and garage. The family dogs Winter and Lucy were part of the household.

Colleagues and neighbours remembered Grandon for building campus computing at UNCG, for leading the American Hebrew Academy, and for years of NCCJ Anytown volunteering with Piedmont youth. Temple members recalled his shofar and his calm humour. His professional writing and software work sat at the junction of educational psychology and computing, while his civic roles tied university, synagogue and community justice work together in Greensboro.