A Wilton Manors resident and Nova Southeastern University professor who had disappeared Monday has been found safe and sound, police announced.
A statement from the Wilton Manors Police Department, sent at 7:23 p.m. on Saturday read: “Missing person Mr. James Doan has been safely located. He is in good health and reunited with his family. The Wilton Manors Police Department would like to thank our community partners, community members and the Broward Sheriff’s Office in assisting us with locating him.”
James Doan, 69, had previously been seen about 6 p.m. on Monday when he walked away from the 500 block of Northeast 27th Drive in Wilton Manors in an eastbound direction, according to a news release from the city’s police department.
Doan is a professor at Nova Southeastern University as well as a board member of the Stonewall National Museum and Archives in Wilton Manors, one of the largest LGBTQ archives in the United States, according to Robert Kesten, the executive director of the museum. He also runs a small nonprofit that puts on Irish plays in Davie.
Doan is listed as a professor in Nova Southeastern University’s Department of Humanities and Politics, with research interests in folklore and mythology and literature, according to the university’s website.
Deborah Greenbaum, a former student of Doan’s at Nova Southeastern University, said he is the reason she started taking classes at the university when she was in her 40s. He made her feel comfortable and like she was a part of the class.
He is also “one of the most brilliant minds I’ve ever encountered,” Greenbaum said.
“Sometimes people seem to have depth of knowledge and you pursue it and it’s very surface level,” she said, “but with him you could dive and dive and dive and you’re never going to hit the bottom.”
