Ulysses Van Spiva, professor emeritus of educational leadership and counseling at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, died on March 29 in Virginia Beach. He was 84 years old.
In 1979, Dr. Spiva was named dean of the College of Education at Old Dominion. He was the first African American dean in the university’s history.
A native of New Market, Tennessee, Dr. Spiva earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics at Tennessee State University. He then taught in the public schools in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Spiva earned a master’s degree at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and a Ph.D. in educational administration and political science at Stanford University.
After earning his doctorate, Professor Spiva joined the faculty at Florida International University in Miami. He taught there for seven years before being named dean at Old Dominion. Dr. Spiva served on the faculty at Old Dominion from 1979 to his retirement in 1994.
