Johney Brooks (February 7, 1933 – October 1, 2016) was an American educator, who worked for the

US Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other ...

and the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...

, mainly in Africa but also at embassies in Turkmenistan and Papua New Guinea.

Early life and education

Brooks was born in

Clarksdale, Mississippi Clarksdale is a city in and the county seat of Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. It is located along the Sunflower River. Clarksdale is named after John Clark, a settler who founded the city in the mid-19th century when he establishe ...

, the daughter of sharecroppers Thomas A. Johnson and Beulah Johnson. She was raised in Texas and California. After a time in the military, she earned a bachelor's degree in biology from

California State University, Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public university in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degrees, 122 master's degrees, ...

, earned a master's degree in chemistry at the University of Arizona, and trained as a teacher. She completed doctoral studies in international and comparative education at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

(UCLA).

Career

Brooks joined the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

in 1951, during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, and was honorably discharged in 1953. She was a chemist in Los Angeles, taught high school in Los Angeles and Compton, worked as a school administrator in Sacramento and Pomona, and was an assistant professor at

Humboldt State University California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt also known as Cal Poly Humboldt, Humboldt or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California or California State Polytechnic Universi ...

. From 1969 to 1971, Brooks taught science teachers for

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...

in Uganda. From 1982 to 1985, she was the appointed director of Peace Corps work in Gambia. She worked at the Bahá'i World Centre in Haifa. She held embassy posts in Tunisia, Niger, Sierra Leone, Guyana, Turkmenistan, and Papua New Guinea.

Personal life

Brooks was an adherent of the Bahá'i faith. She had two children: her daughter Alexis Brooks de Vita is a professor of English at

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a public historically black university in Houston, Texas. The university is one of the largest and most comprehensive historically black college or universities in the USA with nearly 10,000 ...

, and her son W. Abdullah Brooks is a public health physician on the faculty at

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is the public health graduate school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. As the second independent, degree-granting institution for research in epi ...

. Brooks died from complications of a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

in 2016, in

Lake Katrine, New York Lake Katrine is a hamlet (and census-designated place (CDP)) in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 2,397 at the 2010 census. Lake Katrine is a community in the western part of the Town of Ulster, located near a small lake ...

, aged 83 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Johney 1933 births 2016 deaths People from Clarksdale, Mississippi American educators California State University, Los Angeles alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni Humboldt State University faculty Peace Corps directors African-American Bahá'ís