Cole, Thomas

COLE, JR., Thomas W.

Dr. Thomas W. Cole, Jr. was

a visionary leader in science and education and left an enduring legacy at many institutions of higher learning.

Cole was born the second of four children to Eva and Thomas W. Cole, Sr. on January 11, 1941, in Vernon, Texas. The Cole family moved to Marshall, Texas, where his father served as Dean and later President of Wiley College from 1958 to 1971.

Cole graduated from Pemberton High School in 1958 and attended Wiley College where he was active in band and tennis. Graduating summa cum laude from Wiley College in 1961, Cole received his B.S. degree and the Southern Regional Fellowship. Cole married his childhood sweetheart, Brenda S. Hill, in 1964.

Cole attended the University of Chicago and earned his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry in 1966; it was here that he studied with Dr. Philip E. Eaton and they became the first chemists to synthesize the Cubane Carbon Skeleton System.

Dr. Cole began his professional career in 1966 when he joined the faculty of Atlanta University as Assistant Professor of Chemistry. During his tenure at Atlanta University (1966-1982), he served as the Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Chemistry (1969-1979), Chairman of the Department of Chemistry (1970-1979), and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs (1979-1982). He also served as Director of the Atlanta Resource Center for Science and Engineering (1979-1982), the first of three centers established in the United States by the National Science Foundation. He has held visiting professorships at University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana (1971) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1973-74). He was a research scientist for the Procter and Gamble Company in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1967 and at the Celanese Fibers Company in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1974.

Dr. Cole was appointed President of West Virginia State College (now University) and served from 1982 – 1986. The Thomas W. Cole, Jr. Telecommunications Complex is named for him. In 1986, Cole was appointed the Chancellor of the West Virginia Board of Regents, at that time, one of only four African Americans to head a state system of public higher education.

He returned to Atlanta as President of Clark College in February 1988. Following the historic decision to consolidate Clark College and Atlanta University, he served simultaneously as President of both institutions until his appointment as President of Clark Atlanta University (CAU). During his presidency, the institution grew from a student enrollment of 3,100 to become the largest of the UNCF institutions with 5200 students. Cole continued to serve as president until he was named President Emeritus upon his retirement on July 30, 2002.

The Research Center for Science and Engineering was named for him in recognition of his service of more than 30 years as a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry and founding President of the University.

Following his retirement from CAU, he served for two years as President and CEO of Great Schools Atlanta (2004-2006), Interim Chancellor of The University of Massachusetts at Amherst (2007-2008), and Interim President of The Interdenominational Theological Center (2009-2010).

An active citizen of Atlanta and Georgia, Dr. Cole previously served as a member of the board of the Atlanta Area Council Boy Scouts of America, the Advisory Board of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, and the Board of Literacy Action, Inc. He was Scoutmaster of Troup 99, Vice President of the Buckskin Council of the B.S.A. in West Virginia, Chair of the Charter Review Commission of the Atlanta Board of Education (2002) and Founding Chair of the Atlanta Committee for Public Education (1992). His past memberships also include the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Central Atlanta Progress, Georgia Research Alliance, Atlanta Educational Telecommunications Collaborative, Inc., Atlanta Action Forum, Leadership Atlanta and the Atlanta Rotary Club. He was a member of Cascade United Methodist Church.

Dr. Cole's honors include Southern Regional Fellow (University of Texas); Woodrow Wilson Fellow (The University of Chicago), Danforth Associate; memberships in Beta Kappa Chi and Alpha Kappa Mu Honor societies; and listings in Who's Who in the South and Southwest and American Men of Science. Dr. Cole was a Distinguished Eagle Scout and recipient of the Silver Beaver Award. Other awards include Model of Excellence from Colgate-Palmolive Company, The Wiley Branton Award from The National Bar Association, The WEB Dubois Award from the NAACP and The Drum Major for Justice Award from the SCLC. He was an emeritus member of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity and a life member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

West Virginia State College, the University of Charleston, Allegheny College, Tuskegee University, Wiley College and Clark Atlanta University have awarded him honorary doctorates. Cole was celebrated in the 2013 inaugural class of the Clark Atlanta University Spirit of Greatness awardees and is the author of Clark Atlanta University: Charting A Bold New Future. October 6, 2014, was proclaimed Thomas W. Cole, Jr. day by the Atlanta City Council.

Dr. Cole is survived by his beloved wife of 57 years, Judge Brenda Hill Cole; three sisters, The Rev. JoAnn Cole Weeks, Eva Cole Harper, Patricia Cole; two adult children, Kelley Cole Graham (Romero) and Thomas III; and two granddaughters, Ava Margaret Graham and Samantha Brynn Graham; nieces: Babette Weeks, Tahra Edwards Nichols, Keisha Edwards Hunt (Eric); and a nephew, Stanton Weeks. Also mourning his loss is a host of devoted family, close friends and colleagues.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Eva Mae Sharp Cole, and his father, Dr. Thomas Winston Cole, Sr.

Celebration of Life Services will be held on Monday, April 25, 2022, at the Cascade United Methodist Church.

Murray Brothers Funeral Home Cascade Chapel 1199 Utoy Springs Road SW Atlanta, Georgia 30331, (404) 349-3000. Live streaming available at www.mbfh.com