With annual enrollments averaging nearly 30,000 students, the multi-campus institution was one of the 100 largest community colleges in the U.S.[1] Prior to his retirement in 2012, Drake received national attention from CNN and other media outlets after donating a substantial portion of his first-year salary as president to fund textbook purchases for financially challenged students.
Two of his biographies, Rosa Ponselle: A Singer’s Life, and Richard Tucker: A Biography, with forewords by tenor Luciano Pavarotti, were selected as “Books of the Month” by National Book Clubs of America.
[4] His other books include Teaching Critical Thinking (1976), a textbook stemming from his doctoral research; Popular Culture and American Life (with M. W. Laforse, 1980); and Lily Pons: A Centennial Portrait (with K. B. Ludecke and a foreword by Beverly Sills, 1999).
Drake was a contributing author to American National Biography, as well as to The International Dictionary of Opera.
His expertise in 19th and 20th century operatic performances led him to co-host the radio series Voices That Live, originating from WHCU-FM, the CBS affiliate in Ithaca, N.Y. A syndicated version of the weekly radio show originating in South Carolina (with Charles Koelsch as co-host) aired from 1989-1994.