Gordon A. Sabine, the original dean of the Michigan State University College of Communication Arts and Sciences and former MSU vice president, died Thursday evening in Arizona at 86 years old.

Sabine became dean of the newly formed College of Communication Arts and Sciences in 1955 and held the position until 1960 when he became vice president for special projects. Among his accomplishments was the development of recruitment strategies that helped establish MSU as a leader in the recruitment of National Merit Scholars.

In addition, Sabine's strategies contributed to increased recruitment of minority students and veterans at MSU.

"He was an extraordinary person with a great vision for MSU," said James Spaniolo, dean of MSU's College of Communication Arts and Sciences. "He had a very creative mind which was full of ideas and he could develop strategies to implement those ideas."

Jack M. Bain, one of Sabine's former colleagues and dean of the MSU College of Communication Arts and Sciences from 1967 to 1972, said he will miss Sabine.

"He was a tremendous promoter who made people aware of MSU's accomplishments," Bain said. "His greatest accomplishment was that he, more than any other one person, gave this institution real academic standards."

Sabine left MSU in 1972 to take a position as the director of the University of Iowa's School of Journalism. In 1975, he took a position at Virginia Tech.

Before his career at MSU, Sabine worked as faculty at the University of Kansas, the University of Minnesota and the University of Oregon, where he was dean of the School of Journalism.

Prior to his academic career, Sabine was a newspaper reporter and editor for the Lynchburg News, the Wisconsin State Journal and United Press International.

He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Wisconsin and a doctorate from the University of Minnesota.