JBHE: Latest News for 9/27/07

In Memoriam

Everett Owens Bell (1919-2007)

Everett Bell, the former president of Texas Southern University, the historically black educational institution in Houston, has died at a nursing home in that city. He was 88 years old.

Bell had a 46-year career at Texas Southern before his retirement in 1994. In addition to the university presidency, he served as a professor of law, registrar, dean of the law school, and executive director for regents relations.

A native of Mississippi, Bell spent most of his youth in St. Louis. He earned both his bachelor’s and law degrees at the University of Kansas. In 1983 the student services building at Texas Southern was named in his honor.

Oliver Jones (1947-2007)

Oliver Jones, who served as a faculty member in the department of political science at Florida A&M University for 27 years, died earlier this month from cancer. He was 60 years old.

Jones, a Georgia native, graduated from Savannah State University in 1971. He went on to earn a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Illinois. Dr. Jones taught briefly at Rust College in Mississippi before coming to FAMU in 1979.

Beryl B. Haughton Jackson (1923-2007)

Beryl B. Haughton Jackson, a former associate professor of psychiatric and mental health at the University of Pittsburgh, died earlier this month after lapsing into a coma. She was 83 years old.

A native of Jamaica, Jackson came to the United States in the late 1960s and graduated from the nursing school at Duquesne University in 1970 at the age of 47. She went on to earn a master’s and doctorate in nursing from the University of Pittsburgh. She taught undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Pittsburgh and provided psychiatric care for black women in Pittsburgh’s Hill District.

Alexander E. Strawn Sr. (1925-2007)

Alexander E. Strawn Sr., former dean of student affairs at Hampton University, died earlier this month at his home in Hampton after a prolonged battle with cancer. He was 82 years old.

Dr. Strawn was born in St. Joseph, Missouri. His father was a physician. Strawn graduated from Lincoln University, the historically black college in Jefferson City, Missouri. He went on to earn a master’s degree from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in counseling and guidance from Ohio State University. He began his academic career teaching at Jarvis Christian College and Texas College. He came to Hampton University in 1964 and served as an administrator there until his retirement in 1993.