Walter J. Leonard

Walter J. Leonard (October 3, 1929 – December 8, 2015) was an American lawyer and university administrator. As an administrator at Harvard University, he pioneered affirmative action in admissions. He was the president of Fisk University, a historically black university in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1977 to 1984.

Early life

Leonard was born on October 3, 1929, in Alma, Georgia.^[1][2] He grew up in Savannah, Georgia,^[2] where his father worked for a railroad company and his mother was a midwife.^[1]

Leonard graduated from

Leonard served as the president of Fisk University, a historically black university in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1977 to 1984.^[4] He fundraised $12 million,^[1] but refused to sell the university's art collection.^[2] He also invited Jesse Jackson to speak on campus which "some trustees feared would alienate white donors".^[1] Leonard was forced to resign after he "clashed with some of the university's biggest donors,^[who?] who vowed not to give money to Fisk as long as Mr. Leonard was president."^[2] His letter of resignation, sent in November 1983, was addressed to Bahamian politician Timothy Donaldson, who was the chairman of the board of trustees at the time.^[5] Donaldson accepted the resignation; however, Leonard was asked to serve as president until the end of the academic year of 1983–1984.^[5]

Leonard was a "distinguished senior scholar" at his alma mater, Howard University, from 1984 to 1986, executive assistant to the governor of the

With his wife Betty Singleton, Leonard had a son and a daughter; they resided in Chevy Chase, Maryland.^[2] He died of Alzheimer's disease on December 8, 2015, at his retirement home in Kensington, Maryland, at age 86.^[2] His daughter, Angela Leonard, is an associate professor of History at Loyola University Maryland.^[6]

References