Remembering ASU's Bob Lane, Past ACUP President

Editor's reflection: I met Bob Lane in Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1996. We were both there to attend the Association of College and University Printers (ACUP) conference -- my second and his first. I was surprised to hear an English accent come out of this short, smiling man, who dove immediately into conversations with people he had never met. We were all curious about him, and he let us know right away what he was doing at Arizona State University (ASU), which including repairing the university's copiers, a service no one else was undertaking. 

Within three years, he had stepped up to host ACUP in Scottsdale, Arizona, a massive undertaking. And then he made it even more challenging by partnering with the National Association of College and University Mail Services (NACUMS), a university mailing group, and holding a combined conference that drew 325 -- many more than ACUP had traditionally drawn at the time. He was one busy many at that conference, but he was also in his glory.

I saw Bob year after year at ACUP. He was always friendly, always happy to talk. The last time I saw him was at ACUP 2012 in Phoenix, when he was inducted into the ACUP Hall of Fame, in recognition of his many years of contributions and service to the organization. I will miss seeing him and hearing that English accent booming out across the room. 

And now, Harv Dahl's remembrance of Bob...

Former Arizona State University (ASU) in-plant manager and Association of College and University Printers (ACUP) President Robert Lane passed away quietly at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Monday May 12, 2025. He was 78.

Bob Lane

He was born in Great Britain in 1946. In 1964 he joined the Royal Navy and served aboard the HMS Ajax in 1965-66 in the Indian and Pacific Oceans of Southeast Asia and Indonesia.

He emigrated to the United States in 1970. He began his career with ASU providing typewriter maintenance and repair services. Bob, as he was known to friends and colleagues, became a legendary Associate Director of Auxiliary Business Services at ASU. He served the University for nearly 40 years. He was the director of Document Production Services, an organization that included Office Machines Rental and Repair, Library Document Services, Design Print Services and the Office of Tomorrow Technology Facility.

In the 1980s Lane established a university-wide standard for document handling equipment and services, building the program into a multi-million dollar per year premier support service. He created a business model for document solutions that helped transform ASU into a sustainable digital university that enabled it to meet the needs of today without compromising its ability to meet the needs of the future.

He built a digital printing capability in the university’s in-plant printing operation in the 1990s. In 2003 he moved the facility to the University’s Polytechnic Campus where it could be more closely affiliated with the academic graphics program. In 2004 he oversaw the transfer of the in-plant operation to the academic department, providing them with the opportunity to teach and train in a real-time production environment.

He implemented strategic partnerships for design and prepress services with several community, business and academic entities. He served as Chairman of the Arizona Governor’s State Rehabilitation Council and provided active support to the Valley of the Sun Rehabilitation programs.

Lane was president of the Association of College and University Printers in 1999, a consortium of printing and document managing professionals. He served four years on their Board of Directors. As president of ACUP he established the group as an international organization, hosting a combined conference of international university printing and mailing professionals. He was awarded a membership in the University Managers Group in the United Kingdom.

In 2006 Lane was the first university member on the Hewlett-Packard Executive Customer Advisory Council, a small panel representing large organizations in Europe and North America with similar interests in the rapidly converging fields of office printing, reprographics and information management.

In 2014 he was elected as the first member of the Association of College and University Printers Hall of Fame, in recognition and appreciation of his many years of contributions and service to the organization.

Throughout his career in his national and international relationships he presented papers and reports on document solutions issues to many organizations, including the National Association of Educational Buyers, In-plant Impressions magazine, Panamax, Ricoh, Canon, Ikon Office Solutions and numerous colleges and universities.

He is survived by his wife Suzanne, their sons Robert and David (Rachel) and grandchildren Will and Olivia. He is also survived by two sisters.