University of Miami students with a full basket of dirty laundry and an empty roll of quarters have Alan Fish to thank for their clean clothes.

It was the University of Miami vice president of business services who bundled the fee for washers and dryers in with the cost of the room, thus eliminating the need for change.

People were skeptical, but the change proved to be a recruiting device, said UM President Donna E. Shalala.

The longtime UM administrator died Saturday at age 61. He was diagnosed with melanoma in 2000 and had several surgeries and rounds of treatment to fight the cancer.

`A ROLE MODEL'

``I never saw anyone who worked with more focus, more vigor,'' said Dave Lieberman, retired senior vice president for business and finance and Fish's longtime boss. ``He lost himself in his work. He got job satisfaction, and he was a role model for a lot of people who knew his situation was precarious.''

Fish retired last year after 30 years at UM, the last five as vice president. His responsibilities included purchasing, school security, risk management, the cafeteria, bookstores and the BankUnited Center.

``He was irrepressible in his enthusiasm for the university and the people who worked and studied here,'' Shalala said. ``Everything he touched made us a better institution. A nicer place to live and work and study.''

A university newsletter announcing his retirement opened by saying: ``If it had wheels or printed pages, was a high-tech copier machine or could be served on a plate, chances are Alan Fish had something to do with it.''

Born Dec. 21, 1947, Fish grew up in Wantagh, N.Y. He graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology. He came to UM in 1977, working at the print shop. He earned his master's from the School of Business Administration.

During storms, Fish was the face of the university. After the killings at Virginia Tech, Fish helped design UM's emergency operations center and create the Emergency Notification Network.

``Knowing Alan Fish was point person on emergency response, hurricanes, having a person as hands-on, as committed to students, gave all the rest of us a tremendous amount of comfort,'' said Joe Natoli, UM's senior vice president for business and finance and chief financial officer.

Last fall, Fish was inducted into the elite Iron Arrow. The university society chooses members based on their love of UM, character, leadership, scholarship and humility.

He also was awarded the university President's Medal.

GREEN U

Fish was also responsible for many of the university's environmental initiatives -- called Green U -- like using biodiesel fuel in the shuttle fleet and buying more environmentally friendly cleaning products.

He helped start the U Bike program, which encouraged cycling on campus by improving paths and offering inexpensive bikes.

And last year he was instrumental in bringing The Oasis, a glatt kosher restaurant, to the campus.

Fish liked to disrupt biweekly staff meetings, Lieberman said. Tasked with a project to reduce downtime on washers and dryers at residential colleges, Fish appeared to be a no-show for his presentation.

At meeting's end, he walked in ``wearing a Maytag repairman's uniform,'' Lieberman said. ``They had solved the problem of maintenance, so there was nothing to be done, just like a Maytag repairman.''

A few years later, dealing once again with dorm laundry services, he pushed to bundle the fee for washers and dryers with the cost of the room, eliminating the need for rolls of quarters.

He also implemented a computer system that allowed students to check on the progress of their load of laundry, all from the dorm room.

But his mark on university life extended well beyond his job responsibilities.

``I always laughed and told him he had one of those jobs, if something came up that the university thought was important and it didn't fit in someone's job, they gave it to him,'' said his wife, Marcy Ullom, associate vice president, Division of Continuing and International Education.

`LOVE-PACKED TIME'

Superstitious, he married Ullom on June 3, 2006 -- the numbers 6, 3 and 6 were those in the address of his father's business in Manhattan.

``It was unfortunately short but a love-packed time for both of us,'' she said.

In addition to his wife, Fish is survived by daughters Chelsea, 27, and Courtney, 19; a son, Matthew, 19; his mother, Anne Fish; and a brother, Harold Fish.

A visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Van Orsdel Funeral Home, 11220 N. Kendall Dr. in Southwest Miami-Dade. UM will hold a celebration of his life at 5 p.m. Friday at the Gusman Concert Hall on the Coral Gables Campus.

Instead of flowers, his family asks that donations be made to BankUnited, 6300 S. Dixie Hwy., South Miami, FL 33143, to the Alan J. Fish Memorial Fund, which benefits the Nepal Traditional Handicraft Training Center in Kathmandu, Nepal.