Biography:

Teacher; academic administrator; college president. Born– January 15, 1911. Parents Adam and Sallie Emma (Darden) Watkins. Married– Lillian Bernice Vernado. Children– Six. Education– Tennessee State University, B.S., 1933; Northwestern University, M.S., 1940; Arkansas Baptist College, LL.D., 1958; Alabama State University, LL.D., 1974. Taught in Winchester, Tenn., 1933-1934; assistant superintendent, Hopkinsville, Ky.; assistant principal, Burt High School, Clarksville, Tenn., 1935-1940; assistant dean and supervising principal, Parson College’s Douglass School, 1953-1959; Alabama State University, visiting instructor, summer session 1945-1948; admissions, veteran’s officer and administrative assistant to the president, 1948-1953; business officer, 1959-1962; acting president, 1962; president, 1963. Vice president, Council of Presidents of Alabama Commission on Higher Education; president, Alabama Association of College Administrators; state director, American Association of State Colleges and Universities.  Died March 3, 1994.

Source:

Who’s Who in the South and Southwest; Who’s Who in Black America; Alabama Public Library Service.

Publication(s):

Fighting Hard; the Alabama State Experience. Detroit; Harlo Press, 1987.

Report of the President, 1962-1981. Montgomery, Ala.; Alabama State University, 1981.