Dolores R. Spikes
Esteemed college professor and mathematician Dolores Margaret Richard Spikes was born on August 24, 1936 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Margaret and Lawrence Richard. She received her elementary and high school education by attending Baton Rouge’s parochial and public school systems. Throughout her youth, Spikes’ parents strongly advocated the value of a college education and upon her enrollment at Southern University in 1954, her father volunteered for overtime hours at his job to help pay for her expenses. She went on to earn her B.S. degree in mathematics in 1957 from Southern University where she was initiated as a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and met her future husband, Hermon Spikes.
After graduating, Spikes moved to Urbana, Illinois and pursued her M.S. degree in mathematics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. While pursuing her master’s degree, Spikes gained a passion for teaching and decided that she would give back to her community by teaching at a historically black college. In 1958, she returned to Louisiana and accepted a teaching position at Mossville High School in Calcasien Parish. While serving in that capacity, Spikes helped to improve the school’s ratings by introducing independent study programs. Then, in 1961, she returned to her alma mater, Southern University, and served as an assistant professor of mathematics.
In 1971, Spikes made history by becoming the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics from Louisiana State University. She went on to serve as the chancellor for Southern University-Baton Rouge and Southern University-New Orleans in the late 1980s. Spikes was the first female chancellor (and later, president) of a public university in the State of Louisiana. She was then appointed as a board member of Harvard University’s Institute of Educational Management in 1987, and in 1988, she made history once again when she was appointed as president of Southern University and the A&M College System, becoming the first woman in the United States to head a university system. Later, in 1996, Spikes became the president of the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore where she served until 2001.
Spikes has received numerous awards and recognitions for her accomplishments in academia, including: the Thurgood Marshall Educational Achievement Award and Ebony Magazine’s “Most Influential Black Women in America.” She has also served on the board of advisors for historically black colleges and universities; the board of directors for Education Commission of the States; and the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities.
Spikes was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on March 27, 2008.
Spikes passed away on June 1, 2015.
A2008.065
Female
3/27/2008
Spikes
R.
St. Francis Xavier Catholic School
McKinley Senior High School
Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Louisiana State University
Dolores
Baton Rouge
SPI02
Spring, Summer
Louisiana
Anywhere With Libraries
Keep Your Eyes On The Prize.

Louisiana
8/24/1936
Baton Rouge
United States
None
6/1/2015
Math professor and university president Dolores R. Spikes (1936 - 2015 ) served as the president of the Southern University System, and was the first woman in the United States to head a university system. She also served as the president of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore from 1996 to 2001.
Southern University at Baton Rouge
Southern University at New Orleans
Southern University System
University of Maryland, Eastern Shore
Sky Blue
Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Dolores R. Spikes' interview
Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Dolores R. Spikes lists her favorites
Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Dolores R. Spikes describes her mother's family background
Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Dolores R. Spikes talks about her family's surname
Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Dolores R. Spikes describes her father's education
Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Dolores R. Spikes describes her family's work in the construction industry
Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Dolores R. Spikes describes how her parents met
Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Dolores R. Spikes describes her likeness to her father
Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Dolores R. Spikes describes her earliest childhood memory
Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Dolores R. Spikes talks about the culture of South Louisiana
Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Dolores R. Spikes talks about her Native American ancestry
Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Dolores R. Spikes talks about her paternal family's practice of voodoo, pt. 1
Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Dolores R. Spikes talks about her paternal family's practice of voodoo, pt. 2
Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Dolores R. Spikes talks about the Creole language
Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Dolores R. Spikes remembers the impact of urban renewal in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Dolores R. Spikes describes the sights, sounds and smells of her childhood, pt. 1
Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Dolores R. Spikes describes the sights, sounds and smells of her childhood, pt. 2
Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Dolores R. Spikes remembers her childhood pastimes
Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Dolores R. Spikes describes her early education
Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Dolores R. Spikes recalls the demolition of St. Francis Xavier High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pt. 1
Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Dolores R. Spikes recalls the demolition of St. Francis Xavier High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pt. 2
Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Dolores R. Spikes remembers McKinley Senior High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Dolores R. Spikes describes her early social activities
Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Dolores R. Spikes describes her paternal family's musical legacy
Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Dolores R. Spikes recalls her time at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Dolores R. Spikes remembers Southern University President Felton Grandison Clark
Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Dolores R. Spikes talks about Louisiana's historically black colleges
Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Dolores R. Spikes recalls Felton Grandison Clark's departure from Southern University
Tape: 3 Story: 9 - Dolores R. Spikes recalls her activities at Southern University
Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Dolores R. Spikes recalls her experiences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Dolores R. Spikes recalls her living situation at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign
Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Dolores R. Spikes recalls her decision to return to graduate school
Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Dolores R. Spikes recalls her experiences at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Dolores R. Spikes describes her the subject of her dissertation
Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Dolores R. Spikes describes her mathematical influences
Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Dolores R. Spikes talks about her ambition to become a mathematician
Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Dolores R. Spikes talks about her transition to higher education administration
Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Dolores R. Spikes recalls her vice chancellorship of Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Dolores R. Spikes recalls her chancellorship of Southern University at New Orleans
Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Dolores R. Spike remembers becoming president of the Southern University System
Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Dolores R. Spikes recalls her challenges at Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Dolores R. Spikes describes her separation agreement with the Southern University System
Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Dolores R. Spikes recalls negotiating a consent decree to integrate Louisiana's public universities, pt. 1
Tape: 5 Story: 8 - Dolores R. Spikes recalls negotiating a consent decree to integrate Louisiana's public universities, pt. 2
Tape: 5 Story: 9 - Dolores R. Spikes describes the engineering and physics programs at Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
Tape: 6 Story: 1 - Dolores R. Spikes describes the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education
Tape: 6 Story: 2 - Dolores R. Spikes talks about the funding of graduate programs at historically black universities
Tape: 6 Story: 3 - Dolores R. Spikes describes the challenges facing higher education organizations
Tape: 6 Story: 4 - Dolores R. Spikes recalls being offered the presidency of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Tape: 6 Story: 5 - Dolores R. Spikes describes her presidency of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne, Maryland
Tape: 6 Story: 6 - Dolores R. Spikes remembers her decision to retire
Tape: 6 Story: 7 - Dolores R. Spikes reflects upon her life and legacy
Tape: 7 Story: 1 - Dolores R. Spikes describes her hopes and concerns for the African American community, pt. 1
Tape: 7 Story: 2 - Dolores R. Spikes describes her hopes and concerns for the African American community, pt. 2
Tape: 7 Story: 3 - Dolores R. Spikes describes the Head Start program at Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
Tape: 7 Story: 4 - Dolores R. Spikes talks about her family
Tape: 7 Story: 5 - Dolores R. Spikes reflects upon her career
Tape: 7 Story: 6 - Dolores R. Spikes describes how she would like to be remembered
Tape: 7 Story: 7 - Dolores R. Spikes narrates her photographs
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