Hawks mourn the death of Janet Hill, mother of Grant Hill

Curtis Compton / ccompton@ajc.com

Credit: ccompton@ajc.com

Credit: ccompton@ajc.com

Curtis Compton / ccompton@ajc.com

Janet Hill, the mother of Hawks minority owner and Hall of Famer Grant Hill, died Saturday at the age of 74.

Among her many accomplishments, she served as trustee emerita of Duke University from 2006-21, where her son starred in college before his 19-year career in the NBA. Hill was a classmate of former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton at Wellesley College in the 1960s. She spent several decades as a teacher and consultant and served on many academic and business boards of trustees.

On Tuesday evening, Hill released a statement on Twitter to honor his mother.

Grant Hill was part of the ownership group led by Tony Ressler and Jami Gertz that purchased the Hawks in 2015, and he was enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame three years later.

“The Atlanta Hawks organization is heartbroken by the passing of Janet Hill. She was a role model in every respect of her life – professionally, in the community, and with her family. We admire Janet’s passion for being an effective and quiet agent of positive change – a force for diversity and inclusion in the worlds of politics, academia and in the corporate world. The entire Hawks family sends our condolences to Grant and the entire Hill family.”