Former Oakwood President Inducted into Ohio Civil Rights Hall of Fame

A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Dr. Frank W. Hale, Jr., completed elementary and secondary schools in Topeka, Kansas, where he graduated from Topeka High School.  Hale is a graduate of the University of Nebraska where he was awarded the B.A. and M.A. in Communication, Political Science, and English in 1950, and his Ph.D. in Communication and Political Science from The Ohio State University in 1955.  He was a British Council postdoctoral fellow in English Literature at the University of London in 1960, and holds several honorary doctorate awards.

Serving in the field of higher education for 54 years (1951 – 2005), Hale has held full professorships at Central State University (Ohio), Oakwood College (Alabama) and The Ohio State University. He served as Chairman and Professor of the Department of English (1959-1966) at Central State University (Ohio).  Before coming to Ohio State, he was President of Oakwood College (1966-1971) in Huntsville, Alabama.  From 1971 to 1978, he was Associate Dean and Chairman of the Fellowship Committee of the Graduate School of The Ohio State University.  Dr. Hale was appointed Vice Provost for Minority Affairs in 1978, a position which he held until his retirement from Ohio State in 1988.  He also served as Special Assistant to the President of Kenyon College from 1989 to 1992.  In the summer of 1995, he was Visiting Professor of Communication at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  He was appointed Distinguished University Representative and Consultant in the president’s office at The Ohio State University from 1999-2005, and has been named a Professor Emeritus.

Dr. Hale has authored and edited eleven books and published more than 50 articles in professional journals.  His most recent publication include his biography Angels Watching Over Me (Winston/Derek Publishing Company, 1996), his bestseller, What Makes Diversity Work in Higher Education (Stylus Publishing Company, 2004), and Black Colleges Empower Black Students: Lessons for Higher Education (Stylus Publishing  Company, 2006).

As a scholar, researcher, author, teacher, administrator, consultant, and civil rights crusader, Hale was the engineer of many new initiatives at The Ohio State University.  He founded the Graduate and Professional Schools Visitation Days Program in 1971 and its undergraduate counterpart, the Minority Scholars Program in 1982.  He also founded The Ohio State Mu Xi Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Mu Honorary Society.  Through his efforts, nearly $15 million in graduate fellowship awards were granted to approximately 1,200 minority students.  Eighty percent of these fellowship recipients earned masters and /or doctoral degrees.  With the awarding of full tuition scholarships through the Minority Scholars program to high school seniors, the University was able to attract a “Community of Minority Scholars” numbering more than 500 during Hale’s tenure.  As a capstone to his illustrious career, The Ohio State University Board of Trustees voted him Vice Provost and Professor Emeritus, naming in his honor the Frank W. Hale, Jr. Black Cultural Center and designated the building in which it is housed as Hale Hall.  He was honored by the City of Columbus as 1,200 guests participated in his retirement banquet on December 4, 1988 at the Aladdin Shrine Temple.  An endowed scholarship has also been established in his name at The Ohio State University.

Hale is married to Mignon Scott-Hale, a retired elementary school teacher.  Dr. Hale is an active member of the Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church where he has served as a local elder, Sabbath School Superintendent, Chairman of the Education Committee, President of the Peterson Society of Adventist Men, and Building Fund Chairman for the Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church in Columbus, Ohio.