Erma Johnson Hadley (June 6, 1942 – October 1, 2015) was an American educator, the first woman and first African-American to serve as chancellor of

Tarrant County College Tarrant County College (TCC) or Tarrant County College District (TCCD) is a public community college in Tarrant County, Texas. It offers Associate of Arts, an Associate of Science, an Associate of Applied Science, and Associate of Arts in Teachi ...

. She was named to the Texas Women's Hall of Fame in 2010.

Early life and education

She grew up in

Leggett, Texas Leggett is an unincorporated community in Polk County, Texas. It is located at the junction of U.S. Highway 59 (future Interstate 69) and Farm to Market Road 942. As of 2000, the community had approximately 500 residents. The Leggett Independe ...

and was the first black student there to graduate from college. She received a bachelor's degree from

Prairie View A&M University Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU or PV) is a public historically black land-grant university in Prairie View, Texas. Founded in 1876, it is one of Texas's two land-grant universities and the second oldest public institution of higher learnin ...

and an MBA from Bowling Green State University.

Career

Hadley began teaching at Turner High School in Panola County. In 1968, she became a founding member of the faculty of the Northeast Campus of Tarrant County Junior College, later Tarrant County College (TCC). She was named interim chancellor of TCC in 2009 and became chancellor the following year. Hadley served on the Trinity River Authority of Texas and the Texas Governor’s Committee on Volunteerism. She was the first woman named to the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Board and the first African American to serve as the board's chair.

Personal life

She married Lawrence Johnson, and later married Bill Hadley after Johnson's death. She had one daughter, Ardenia Johnson Gould.

Death

Hadley died at the age of 73 after suffering from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hadley, Erma Johnson 1942 births 2015 deaths 20th-century African-American educators 20th-century American educators 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics 21st-century American women academics 21st-century African-American women Heads of universities and colleges in the United States American women educators Bowling Green State University alumni Deaths from pancreatic cancer Prairie View A&M University alumni Women heads of universities and colleges