ATLANTA — Editors Note: The video in the player above is when Clark Atlanta received an $11.8 million grant.
The founding president of Clark Atlanta University died on Thursday, the school's president announced on Monday. Details about his death were not immediately made available.
President Thomas W. Cole, Jr., Ph.D., was appointed president of Atlanta University and Clark College in 1987. in 1988, when the two were conjoined, he was named the first president.
"President Cole was a giant among the landscape of American Higher Education leaders and a celebrated colleague, particularly among the Historically Black College and University community and the many federal agencies that supported the sciences," the university's president, George T. French, Jr., Ph.D. said in a news release from the school.
While he served as president, Cole launched phase one of the institution's first capital campaign, The University for A New Day Campaign, which exceeded its $9 million goal, raising $11.5 million, they said.
He also served as the Chairman of the United Negro College Fund member presidents.
"President Cole profoundly loved Clark Atlanta University," French said in the statement. "His deep appreciation for the entire CAU family was felt by all, including faculty, staff and most importantly, the students. He was a students’ president. He knew students by name, and every decision he made was led with the best interest of the students and the university in mind."
Cole started his professional career in 1966 as an assistant professor at Atlanta University, teaching chemistry. He served as the chemistry department chair from 1970 to 1979, and from 1969 to 1979, he was the Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Chemistry.
In 1979, he was named Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs until 1982, the school said.
From 1982 to 1986, Cole was president of West Virginia State College before he was appointed chancellor of the West Virginia Board of Regents. He was the first of four African-Americans to lead a state system of public higher education at the time, the release said.