Biography Of Dr. Dolores Margaret Richard Spikes

“The road which Dr. Dolores Margaret Richard Spikes chose to travel on her journey to becoming president of the Southern University System was not unusual for the times. Like her younger sisters, Ann Marie (Mrs. Robert Fenelon) and Elizabeth Cecelia (Mrs. Henry Bellaire), she was reared by her parents, Margaret Mae Patterson Richard, a full-time homemaker, and Lawrence Granville Richard, a laborer. Her mother instilled in her the values of family and the importance of serving people; her father preached the need to always do her best. He emphasized the importance of protecting the integrity of his most precious gift to her—his good name.

Ms. Dolores Richard attended St. Francis Xavier School and McKinley High School, from which she graduated as class salutatorian. This self-described “shy and quiet person” also proved to be a star basketball player, captain of the team, and a multi-talented softball player. She entered SUBR and later graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Liberal Arts (major in mathematics; minor in the sciences). She earned a Master of Science Degree at the University of Illinois and a doctorate degree in mathematics from Louisiana State University. Before beginning her career as a teacher at Mossville School, she married Hermon Spikes of Bancroft, Louisiana. The couple has one daughter, Rhonda Kathleen (Mrs. Chris Pete), and two grandchildren, Bianca Christina and Bronson.

Dr. Spikes joined the mathematics faculty at the Baton Rouge campus in 1964 and worked to challenge students to pursue excellence in education. She was a principal organizer of the Faculty Senate for SUBR, serving first as vice president and then as president. In recognition of her outstanding leadership, she was named president emeritus of the SUBR Faculty Senate in 1978. She has served in numerous positions at Southern University, including professor of mathematics, coordinator of developmental education, mathematics executive vice chancellor, vice chancellor for academic affairs, and coordinator of SUBR’s Consent Decree academic programs. The Honors College, the Office of Grants, Sponsored Research, and Faculty Development, and the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies were established under her administration. She also served as chancellor of Southern University in New Orleans where she initiated the proposal for the Center for African and African-American Studies, the computer-assisted laboratories and the tutorial and child-care services for the children of students in the Evening and Weekend Division.

Dr. Dolores Margaret Richard Spikes was named President of the Southern University System and Chancellor of the Baton Rouge campus on October 29, 1988. She immediately acted to help solve the University’s financial problems by implementing new fiscal management practices and policies. She successfully reactivated the Southern University System Foundation; improved the computer and technology infrastructure; established the Office of Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research at SUBR; developed the University’s first Five-Year Plan; established a mentoring program to assist and to nurture students; initiated the community service requirement for graduation; established system-wide goals and activities to improve instruction, retention, and graduation rates; increased involvement of the University in consortia; and developed the SU Board of Supervisors’ System-wide Strategic Plan. During the higher education desegregation litigation, Dr. Spikes proved to be a fierce protector of the rights of all persons to have access to higher education. Her tenacity and resolve as the System’s negotiator led to more funding for new graduate programs and completion of capital projects for SUBR, SUNO, and Grambling State University.

On June 29, 1996, Dr. Dolores Margaret Richard Spikes announced that she would be leaving the Presidency of the Southern University System on December 31, 1996. President Spikes’ departing message to the young people for whom she has dedicated her efforts is, ‘Keep preparing spiritually and intellectually so that you will be able to cope when the problems come…and they will come. I love you.’ ”

Source: “Celebrating the Legacy, Dolores Richard Spikes, Ph.D, President, Southern University System and President-Elect, University of Maryland-Eastern Shore” Program – Wednesday, November 13, 1996 – provided by the McKinley High School Alumni Association

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Dr. Dolores Margaret Richard Spikes, Ph. D.

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1936-

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