Nolen M. Ellison, a two-time community college president, passed away on June 12. He was 84 years old.
A native of Kansas City, Kansas, Dr. Ellison was among the first African American students to integrate Wynadotte High School. After receiving a basketball scholarship, he enrolled at the University of Kansas, graduating with his bachelor’s degree in education in 1963. He later moved on to Michigan State University, where he earned his Ph.D. in leadership, sociology, and urban development.
At the age of 31, Dr. Ellison was named president of Seattle Central Community College, making him the youngest chief executive officer of a higher education institution in the state of Washington and one of the youngest in the United States. A few years later, he became the second president of Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio, where he remained for the next two decades.
After stepping down from his presidency in 1991, Dr. Ellison joined the faculty at the University of Missouri-Kansas City as the Missouri Schutte Professor of Urban Affairs. He retired in 2001 and served as a board member for Kansas City Kansas Community College.
