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[[image - black & white photograph of a man in a white pinstriped suit guiding an older woman in a dress suit, with a man in glasses and a dark suit on her other side.]]

DR. MORDECAI JOHNSON TO BE HONORED AT HOWARD UNIVERSITY
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the election of Dr. Mordecai W. Johnson as Howard University's first black president, the Moordand-Spingarn Research Center will hold a special tribute on May 5 at 11 a.m. in Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel on the main campus.

DR. MORDECAI WYATT JOHNSON,
FORMER PRESIDENT OF HOWARD UNIVERSITY, DIES AT 86

Dr. Mordecai Wyatt Johnson, a major figure in higher education and President of Howard University in its formative years from 1926 to 1960, died today in his sleep at his home at 1610 Buchanan St., N.W., Washington, D.C. He was 86.

Under Dr. Johnson's charismatic leadership, Howard University grew into an international university, becoming a vital center of educational opportunity for all nationalities. In an era when racial segregation severely restricted the educational opportunities of blacks and other minorities, Dr. Johnson, a controversial figure whose career seemed to be thrust forward by his own sense of mission, built Howard University into a haven of learning for the denied and the disadvantaged. His role and that of the University became unique in the annals of education, so much so that in the early decades of his administration, Howard trained nearly 50 percent of all black physicians and dentists and approximately 96 percent of all of the black lawyers.

Though his hands were often severely tied, sometimes even by those who professed to be friends of Howard University, he was able to gain accreditation for all of the University's schools and colleges and to secure increased support from private philanthropy and the federal government. During his tenure, the student population increased by 250 percent and the annual budget rocketed from $700,000 to $8 million. In the first nine years of his administration, the book collections of the University's libraries doubled and the capital assets and the scientific equipment in its laboratories tripled. 

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