In Memoriam: Millie Louise Bown Russell, 1926-2021

Millie L.B. Russell, a former administrator and lecturer in biology at the University of Washington, died on November 1 in Seattle. She was 95 years old.

The granddaughter of enslaved African Americans, Dr. Russell grew up in Seattle. She was the first Black student to enroll in the medical technology program at Seattle University. She earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the university in 1948.

After working at the Puget Sound Regional Blood Center for more than a quarter century and being involved in the civil rights movement, Russell returned to Seattle University to earn a secondary science-teaching certificate. Later she earned a master’s degree in kinesiology from the University of Washington and an educational doctorate.

Dr. Russell began her tenure on the staff at the University of Washington in 1974 as the director of the preprofessional program for minority students in health sciences. Later she became assistant to the vice president in the Office of Minority Affairs. Dr. Russell founded the Early Scholars Outreach Program at the University of Washington designed to steer middle-school students from underrepresented groups onto a path toward higher education.

When she retired in 2007 at the age of 81, the University of Washington Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity established the Dr. Millie Russell Endowed Scholarship in honor of her lifelong devotion to education and equality.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

Two Black Scholars Who Have Been Appointed to University Provost Positions

Nosa O. Egiebor is the new provost and executive vice chancellor at Montana Technological University in Butte and Toni Williams has been named provost and executive vice president of academic affairs at Martin University in Indianapolis.

Study Finds That Protesting NFL Players Who ‘Took a Knee’ at 2016 Games Were Penalized Financially

A recent study by scholars at the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Connecticut, and Pennsylvania State University examined the career trajectories of the first 50 NFL athletes to kneel in protest during a pregame national anthem in 2016.

Winston Oluwole Soboyejo Named President of SUNY Polytechnic Institute

Dr. Soboyejo has been serving at Worchester Polytechnic Institute since 2017, first as dean of engineering, then provost and senior vice president, and later interim president. Earlier, Dr. Soboyejo was a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton University for 17 years.

Education Department Debuts the Equity in Education Dashboard

the website is divided into a series of domains, each of which includes a set of indicators. The indicators highlight disparities in education among population groups, including differences by race/ethnicity, sex, socioeconomic status, English learner status, and disability status.

Featured Jobs