DOVER - Dr. Ulysses Samuel Washington, Jr., an academic whose tenure at Delaware State University (DSU) was unrivaled and covered many facets of the institution's employment experience and was highlighted with a campus building named in his honor, passed away on October 25, 2018. He was 98 years old.
Dr. Washington was employed at the University from 1949 to 1993, but his services continued long afterward. He maintained a visible, influential, and respected presence at the historically black institution until declining health slowed his mobility.
Dr. Washington, whose employment at Delaware State included professor and chair of the department of agriculture, extension administrator, research director, interim athletic director, interim head football coach, assistant football coach, bus driver, acting director of Conwell Hall, and director of the recreation demonstration program under Title III, will also be remembered as a fixture at DSU's commencement exercise, where he served as chief marshal for over four decades. He served as former president of the Faculty Athletic Committee of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
"Wash" arrived at DSC when its department of agriculture was significantly under-funded. He moved up the ranks, becoming chair of the department and led it to the precipice of excellence. Dr. Washington's commitment to the financial success of the agriculture research program at DSU and other 1890 colleges and universities resulted in the passage of a bill by Congress to increase funding for 1890 land-grant universities. The bill bears his name. In 1981, the university bestowed him an honorary doctorate, an uncommon achievement for an employee still on the payroll at the time of the award.
Dr. Washington was born in Dillwyn, a small town in Buckingham County, Virginia about 60 miles west of Richmond. He was the second of eight children of the late Ulysses and Ethel Jones Washington, Sr. After earning his diploma from Buckingham County Training School, Dr. Washington attended then junior college Saint Paul's and transferred to Virginia State University, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in agriculture in 1942.
He taught agriculture at Manassas Regional High School for two years and entered the military. After a two-year tour of duty in the Navy, he was honorably discharged and then joined his father's sawmill business. He later enrolled at Pennsylvania State University to pursue a master's degree but transferred to Rutgers, where he earned a master's in agriculture in 1949.
At the time of his retirement, the department had more than quadrupled the amount of money it received from the U.S. Dept. of Ag and competitive grants. In 1993, his efforts were rewarded and recognized with the naming of the Ulysses S. Washington, Jr. Cooperative Extension Building, a facility that houses the university's agriculture outreach. It is also the home of the Claude E. Phillips Herbarium, which contains the most comprehensive floral collection indigenous to the Delmarva Peninsula.
Dr. Washington was a charter member of Zeta Rho Lamdba Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and served as president of the NAACP of Buckingham County. He was a member of the Governor's Committee for Agriculture, the 1890 Colleges and Tuskegee University Association of Research Directors, Board of Directors for the Delaware Agriculture Museum, Delaware Vocational Association and the Delaware Conservation Education Association. He had been a loyal member of Whatcoat United Methodist Church.
Survivors include his daughter, Diane Carroll of Pittsburgh, Pa.; and his son, Ulysses S. Washington, III ("Ukee") of Wilmington.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made payable to the Dr. Ulysses S. Washington, Jr. Endowed Scholarship and send to DSU Foundation, c/o Ulysses S. Washington, Jr., Delaware State University, 1200 N. DuPont Hwy., Dover, DE 19901, Attn: Lorene Robinson or make a call or visit the sick in a hospital or a care facility.
Celebration of Life Services will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, November 1, 2018 at Delaware State University in the Education & Humanities Theatre (EH Bldg.), 1200 N. Dupont Hwy., Dover, DE 19901 with visitation from 9 a.m. to 11a.m. and the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. tribute at 10:30 a.m.
Interment will take place on Friday, November 2, 2018 at 3 p.m. at the Holy Trinity Baptist Church Cemetery, 8864 South James Madison Highway, Dillwyn, VA 23936.
To offer words of comfort, or sign the guest book, visit www.benniesmithfuneralhome.com
Professional services entrusted to Bennie Smith Funeral Home, Dover.