In Memoriam

Leonard H.O. Spearman (1929-2008)

Leonard H.O. Spearman, a college professor and former president of Texas Southern University, has died as a result of a stroke. He was 78 years old.

Dr. Spearman was a native of Tallahassee, Florida, and graduated from Florida A&M University. He went on to earn a master’s and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Michigan.

After teaching at Florida A&M and Southern University, in 1980 he was named president of Texas Southern University, the historically black educational institution in Houston. He served in that post for seven years.

Dr. Spearman was U.S. ambassador to both Rwanda and Lesotho. In 2001 he was named executive director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He was the first leader of this group with previous experience as a president of a black college.

In 2003 the Leonard H.O. Spearman Technology Building was dedicated on the Texas Southern University campus.

James B. Cooley (1918-2008)

James B. Cooley, who spent 41 years as a teacher, high school principal, psychology professor, and college administrator, died last month at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center after suffering a massive stroke. He was 89 years old.

Cooley earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Virginia State University. He then was a teacher and a principal of a public high school in Virginia. In 1964 he joined the faculty of Saint Paul’s College, the historically black educational institution in Lawrenceville, Virginia. There he taught psychology and served as director of career planning.

Copyright © 2008. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.