Former University of Nevada, Reno, president Joe Crowley died Tuesday after being hospitalized for pneumonia since early this month. He was 84-years-old.

Crowley served as president of UNR from 1978-2001, the longest tenure of any university president in the school’s history. He briefly returned to the role as interim president in 2006 before leaving the post once more.

The Joe Crowley Student Union on the university’s campus is named after the former president.

Crowley is survived by his wife, four children and seven grandchildren.

“I’m drinking gin and crying tonight,” his son Tim Crowley told the RGJ.

A full retrospective on the life and achievements of Joe Crowley will be published next week in The Nevada Sagebrush.

Madeline Purdue can be reached at mpurdue@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @madelinepurdue.