In Memoriam

Brenda Watts Jones (1952-2007)

Brenda Watts Jones, who served for 10 years as president of Atlanta Technical College and who transformed the school into a degree-granting institution, died earlier this month from breast cancer at Atlanta Medical Center. She was 55 years old.

Dr. Jones was the only African American to ever head a technical college in Georgia. During her tenure as president, enrollments at Atlanta Technical College nearly tripled to more than 4,200 students.

A graduate of Dillard University in New Orleans, Dr. Jones held a master’s degree from Atlanta University and a doctorate from Georgia Southern University.

Dorothy M. Richardson (1927-2007)

Dorothy M. Richardson, a fair housing advocate and retired mathematics teacher at Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove, Illinois, died recently at her home in Aurora. She was 80 years old.

In 1949 Richardson was the first African American to graduate from what is now Aurora University. She was one of the original members of the Aurora Neighborhood Housing Committee. She retired from teaching in 1992.

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