In Memoriam

Elias Blake Jr. (1929-2007)

Elias Blake Jr., the former president of Clark College in Atlanta (now part of Clark Atlanta University), died at his home in Washington, D.C., in late June. He was 77 years old.

Dr. Blake was a native of Brunswick, Georgia, where he attended racially segregated schools. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Paine College, a historically black educational institution in Augusta, Georgia. Blake was later awarded a master’s degree in education from Howard University and earned a doctorate from the University of Illinois.

An adviser to Presidents Nixon and Carter on higher education, Dr. Blake served as deputy director of the Upward Bound program. He also served as president of the Institute for Services to Education, a group that helped predominantly white southern colleges recruit black students.

He was named president of Clark College in 1977 and served in that post for 10 years.

Wanda Bethune Taylor (1954-2007)

Wanda B. Taylor, an associate professor of public health at South Carolina State University, died last month at the age of 53. A native of Fort Benning, Georgia, Professor Taylor earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of South Carolina. She held a master’s degree in nutrition from South Carolina State University and a Ph.D. in public health from the University of South Carolina.

Annette Kearney (1939-2007)

Annette Kearney, a longtime educator who taught at six different colleges and universities, has died as a result of a stroke at a hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Dr. Kearney, who held a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Rutgers University, taught at the University of Maryland, Shaw University, Michigan State University, Delaware State University, Kean University, and Rutgers University. Before her retirement in 1993 she was superintendent of schools in Plainview, New Jersey.

Copyright © 2007. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.