In Memoriam: Bernard Williams, 1952-2014
Dr. Bernard Williams was the long-time director of the "Golden Voices" choir at Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama. In addition to leading the choir, he served as college organist and was a professor of education.
In Memoriam: Harry Leon June Sr., 1957-2014
Dr. June was a professor of psychiatry, professor of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics, and director of substance abuse research at the Howard University College of Medicine.
In Memoriam: Walter Terrell Jones, 1949-2014
Dr. Jones began his career at Penn State in 1980 as a residence hall coordinator. After a one-year stint as acting provost at Loch Haven University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Jones returned to Penn State in 1997 and a year later was named vice provost for educational equity.
In Memoriam: Jefferson Parramore Rogers, 1917-2014
Jefferson P. Rogers was an educator, pastor, civil rights leader, and the former director of the Center for Community Change. He served on the faculty at Florida Memorial University and established the Howard Thurman Distinguished Lecture Series in conjunction with Stetson University.
In Memoriam: Anna Bethel Young, 1918-2014
After graduating from Temple University in 1946, Dr. Young became one of the first African American teachers in the public school system in Philadelphia. She later taught at Temple University and several other institutions of higher learning.
In Memoriam: Lincoln Vernon Lewis, 1929-2014
Lincoln Lewis, a native of Anguilla in the West Indies, was an educator whose main focus was on increasing diversity in higher education. He held diversity posts at Yale, Indiana University/Purdue University Indianapolis, and the University of Virginia.
In Memoriam: Jewel Limar Prestage, 1931-2014
At the age of 22, she earned a Ph.D. in political science at the University of Iowa. She was the first African American women to receive a Ph.D. in political science from an American university. She then taught for 33 years at Southern University in Baton Rouge.
In Memoriam: Edward Vaughn
Edward Vaughn was a professor of education at Alcorn State University in Mississippi. Before coming to Alcorn State in 2004, Professor Vaughn was director of institutional research at Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee.
In Memoriam: Michelle Parthenia Winn-Pigford, 1966-2014
Michelle Winn was an associate professor of nephrology at the Duke University Medical Center. Throughout her career, Dr. Winn was a strong advocate for advancing the careers of women and underrepresented minorities in medicine and science.
In Memoriam: Evelyn Thornton, 1933-2014
Dr. Thornton taught at Prairie View A&M University in Texas for more than 40 years. She was still an active member of the faculty at the time of her death at the age of 81.
In Memoriam: Alice Marie Coachman Davis, 1923-2014
Alice Coachman Davis was a standout track star at Tuskegee University in Alabama and the first African American woman to earn an Olympic gold medal. She won the national high jump championship 10 years in a row.
In Memoriam: Tritobia Hayes Benjamin, 1944-2014
Dr. Benjamin served for 44 years on the faculty at Howard University in Washington, D.C. She was an accomplished art historian whose research focused on the works of African American women.
In Memoriam: S. Dallas Simmons, 1940-2014
Dr. Simmons served as president of two historically Black educational institutions: St. Paul's College in Lawrenceville, Virginia, and Virginia Union University in Richmond.
In Memoriam: Abdulalim A. Shabazz, 1927-2014
Abdulalim Shabazz was a Distinguish Professor of Mathematics at Grambling State University in Louisiana. In September 2000, President Clinton presented Dr. Shabazz with a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring.
In Memoriam: Anna Lee Cooke, 1923-2014
Anna L. Cooke, who served on the staff at Lane College, a historically Black educational institution in Jackson, Tennessee, for a quarter century, died on June 28 at the Jackson Madison County Hospital. She was 91 years old.
In Memoriam: Roosevelt “Sandy” Gilliam Jr., 1933-2014
Roosevelt Sandy Gilliam Jr. was the former director of athletics at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne and the former vice president for development and industrial relations at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg.
In Memoriam: Raymond H. Boone Sr., 1938-2014
Raymond H. Boone Sr., former professor of journalism at Howard University and the founder of the Richmond Free Press, died earlier this month at the age of 76. He had been suffering from pancreatic cancer.
In Memoriam: Maya Angelou, 1928-2014
Maya Angelou, author, poet, dancer, actress, civil rights activist, and the Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University, has died at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She was 86 years old.
In Memoriam: Vincent Gordon Harding, 1931-2014
Vincent G. Harding, the civil rights activist, author, and professor emeritus of religion and social transformation at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, died on May 19 in Philadelphia. He was an associate of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
In Memoriam: Isaac Greggs, 1928-2014
Dr. Greggs led the Southern University marching band, called the Human Jukebox, for 36 years until his retirement in 2005. During his tenure the band played at six Super Bowls and three presidential inaugurations.
In Memoriam: Beatrice Elizabeth Coleman, 1904-2014
Beatrice Coleman was one of only seven Black students in the 1925 graduating class at Brown University. At the time of her death was one of the oldest living graduates of the university.
In Memoriam: Charles Sumner Stone Jr., 1924-2014
Chuck Stone was a Tuskegee Airman, a veteran journalism, an esteemed professor of journalism, and a frequent contributor to The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.
In Memoriam: CherRhonda Smith-Hollins, 1980-2014
At Prairie View A&M, Dr. Smith-Hollins worked in the areas of student retention and recruitment. She coordinated the engineering school's summer programs and was adviser to the university's chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers.
In Memoriam: Jonas T. Kennedy, 1917-2014
A trustee emeritus and long-term financial supporter of Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina, Kennedy's gifts financed the construction of three campus buildings.
In Memoriam: Najee E. Muhammad, 1944-2014
Dr. Muhammad joined the faculty at Ohio University in 1996 and taught in the department of educational studies. He served for one year as interim chair of the department of African American studies.
In Memoriam: Tanya I. Edwards: 1960-2014
Dr. Edwards was an associate professor of family medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and the former medical director of the Center for Integrative Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.
In Memoriam: Hazo W. Carter Jr., 1946-2014
Dr. Carter served as president of West Virginia State University for 25 years from 1987 to 2012. He was the longest serving president in the university's history.
In Memoriam: Marva Odessa Lane Rudolph, 1949-2014
Marva Rudolph, associate vice chancellor and director of the Office of Equity and Diversity at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, died on February 6. She was 67 years old.
In Memoriam: Rose L. Glee, 1942-2014
She served as interim director of the Office of Technology Transfer, Licensing, and Commercialization at Florida A&M University and was the former director of the Office of Sponsored Research at Southern University.
In Memoriam: Kenneth Carlton Edelin, 1939-2013
Dr. Edelin was a long-time professor and administrator at the Boston University School of Medicine. He was best known for a 1975 legal case when he was convicted of manslaughter for an abortion. The conviction was later overturned.
In Memoriam: Franklin Eugene McCain, 1941-2014
He was one of the four students from North Carolina A&T State University, who on February 1, 1960 began a sit-in at the segregated lunchcounter of the Woolworth's store in Greensboro, North Carolina. The movement quickly spread throughout the South.
In Memoriam: Amiri Baraka, 1934-2014
Amiri Baraka, poet, author, social activist, and emeritus professor of Africana studies at Stony Brook University, died on January 9 at Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, New Jersey.
In Memoriam: Lonnie E. Duncan, 1967-2013
Dr. Duncan was an associate professor of counseling education and counseling psychology at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. He also served as the co-training director of the university's counseling psychology doctoral program.
In Memoriam: Benjamin F. Ward, 1948-2013
After teaching at Yale for seven years, Dr. Ward joined the Duke faculty in 1980. In addition to philosophy, he taught courses in German studies, Arabic, and comparative literature.
In Memoriam: Wesley Cornelious McClure, 1942-2013
Wesley McClure, the ninth president of Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee, died on December 6 at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital. He was 71 years old.
In Memoriam: William M. Spann, 1927-2013
Spann joined the faculty at Shaw University in 1957. He was the founder of the university's program in kinesiology, coached women's basketball, and served as chair of the department of allied health and as athletics director.
