As the University of Maryland holds its 2nd Annual Memorial Celebration today, the College of Education joins in mourning the lives of two past deans and an alum who have passed away between April 2021 and April 2022, while also honoring the contributions they made to the College of Education community.
The College of Education remembers and honors:
Genevieve Madeline Knight, Ph.D. ’70
Genevieve Madeline Knight, Ph.D., ’70, was one of the first Black women to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics education at the University of Maryland. She spent her career as a math educator at historically Black colleges and universities. She taught at Hampton Institute for 17 years prior to teaching at Coppin State University for over 20 years. She retired in 2006.
Dr. Knight won numerous awards during her career, including, the University System of Maryland Wilson H. Elkins Distinguished Professorship (1996); the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Lifetime Achievement Award (1999); and the Cox–Talbot Lecturer of the National Association of Mathematicians (2013). She was also named an Inaugural Fellow of the Association for Women in Mathematics (2018) and served as a member of the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences.
Dr. Knight passed away in August 2021.
Dean Corrigan
Dean Corrigan, Ph.D., served as the Dean of the College of Education from 1977-1980.
Dr. Corrigan also served as the Dean of the College of Education at the University of Rochester, the Dean of the College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M, and the Dean of the College of Education and Social Services at the University of Vermont. He also worked in the US Department of Education in Washington D.C. and had early experiences as a classroom teacher, guidance counselor and school principal. For ten years he co-chaired the National Commission on Leadership in Interprofessional Education and Practice and sat on many other national and state commissions. He published over a hundred scholarly books, papers and journals that are available at the University of Vermont Special Collections Library.
Dr. Corrigan passed away in November 2021.
Willis David Hawley
Willis Hawley, Ph.D., served as the Dean of the College of Education from 1993 to 1998. While at Maryland, he helped found and directed the Common Destiny Alliance, a coalition of 30 national organizations and numerous scholars committed to improving race relations and educational equity. He also held teaching positions at Yale University, Duke University, and Vanderbilt University.
Dr. Hawley supported President Jimmy Carter in establishing the U.S. Department of Education, and served as a consultant to public agencies, including the Executive Office of the President, the U.S. Senate, the U.S. Department of Education, and the World Bank, as well as many state and local governments, foundations, and professional associations. He published numerous books, articles, and book chapters dealing with teacher education, school reform, urban politics, political learning, organizational change, school desegregation, and educational policy.
He ended his career with a decade of work as Special Master in a court desegregation case in the district of Tuscon, Arizona, where he brought his passion for racial and economic equity together with his deep understanding of how to improve schools and teaching together, to support the district in implementing a comprehensive approach to improving schools for every child.
Dr. Hawley passed away in November 2021.
