George Albert Owens (February 9, 1919 – December 21, 2003) was an American academic administrator and college president. He served as the 9th president of

Tougaloo College Tougaloo College is a private historically black college in the Tougaloo area of Jackson, Mississippi. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). It was originally established in 1869 by New Yo ...

in Mississippi serving from 1966 to 1984. He was the college's first African American president. He succeeded Adam D. Beittel who was removed from office after supporting civil rights activists. While in office he increased funding and campus housing.

Biography

He was born in

Bolton, Mississippi Bolton is a town in Hinds County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 567 at the 2010 census, down from 629 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Bolton is in north-central Hinds County, ...

, on February 9, 1919, to

sharecropping Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...

parents and he graduated from Jackson College High School. He graduated from Tougaloo College and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. He had captained the school's football team. He worked as its business manager. The ''New York Times'' quoted him in a story about the college in 1970 saying ''"Institutions like ours have the responsibility to identify the strengths of our students"''. His wife's name was Ruth and she died before him. The college's gymnasium was named for them. U.S. Surgeon General

Jerome Adams Jerome Michael Adams (born September 22, 1974) is an American anesthesiologist and a former vice admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps who served as the 20th surgeon general of the United States from September 5, 2017 un ...

visited the health and wellness center named for him on the occasion of its 20th anniversary. He received threats as college president, as well as other staff, and his home on the college campus was bombed. Owens died on December 21, 2003, after suffering with Parkinson's disease. His two children survived him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Owens, George Albert 1919 births 2003 deaths Heads of universities and colleges in the United States People from Bolton, Mississippi American educators

Biography

Further reading

References