Dr. Milton Wilson

DR. MILTON WILSON, 88, died peacefully on September 2, 2003. Born in Paducah, Kentucky on July 20, 1915, he was the first child of Jess and Rhea D. Wilson of Danville, Illinois. Dr. Wilson received a master's and two doctorate degrees in business administration from Indiana University, where he later served as professor of accounting, and more recently received Indiana University's Distinguished Alumni Award. In 1952, he became the first Black to become a Certified Public Accountant in Texas. For his many accomplishments in education, Dr. Wilson became know as "the dean of predominantly Black business schools in the country." He began his distinguished career as head of the department of accounting, Hampton Institute, Hampton Virginia, in 1944; then moved to Dillard University, New Orleans, Louisiana, at the request of President Dent, where he remained as head of the business department until 1949, when President Ralph O'Harold Lanier of Texas Southern University (TSU) invited him to establish a department of business (which became the school of business). Under Dean Wilson's leadership, TSU was the first school of business in Houston to gain accreditation by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). During his tenure at TSU, Dr. Wilson accepted visiting professor invitations from both Harvard and the University of Chicago. He remained at TSU until 1970, when President James Cheek of Howard University (HU) requested that he establish the HU School of Business and Public Administration. For the second time, he was responsible for both founding and gaining AACSB accreditation for a predominantly Black school of business, first obtaining accreditation for the bachelor's degree programs, then the master's degree programs, and finally the accounting program (the first AACSB accounting accreditation in the greater Washington, D.C. area). Dr. Wilson was proud that at the time of his retirement, he was responsible for more Black students receiving degrees in business administration and becoming CPAs than any other business dean. He witnessed many of his student become prominent and successful businesspersons, professionals, and elected officials. Upon the occasion of his retirement, President Cheek of HU said: "You have distinguished yourself as an academic administrator and entrepreneur with great interest in human behavior, group behaviors, and motivation. The record will show that you have succeeded with laudable distinction....Howard University has been a fortunate recipient of almost all that tireless energy you have devoted to professionalism and excellence for a period of more than fourteen years. As the only Dean of the School of Business and Public Administration at Howard University, you have been not only the leader and inspiration of that school, but you have also been the prime moving force...Your name will rightly be associated with the School....for as long as it stands. Time cannot remove the impact of your efforts." Throughout his most productive life, Dr. Wilson received countless honors, awards and recognition, and had numerous affiliations, among them Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity (since 1937), and the Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church. He was very proud of being a member of the Board of Directors and being elected Auditing Committee Chair of Great Western Financial Savings and Loan Association, once of the largest savings & loan associations in the country. His hobbies included enjoying his family; playing with his dog, Bonzo; reading the Bible; watching sports; and fishing. His first wife, Zelda Summers Wilson, preceded Dr. Wilson in death. He is survived by his wife, Imelda Pradia Wilson; three children by his first wife: Rhea Ann Fairley, Zelda Jefferson Young, and Milton Wilson, Jr.; his sister, Jessie W. Wilson; and five grandchildren: Gladys Zelda Fairley, Paul Milton Fairley, Milton Wilson III, Marcus James Wilson, and Wendell Mosley. Visitation will be on Friday, September 5, 2003, 5:00 - 8:00 P.M., in the Viola Chapel of Mabrie Memorial Mortuary, 5000 Almeda Road, Houston, Texas. Final Christian Rites will be on Saturday, September 6, 1:00 P.M., at Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, 4930 West Bellfort Avenue, Houston, Texas. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church for The Dr. Milton Wilson Scholarship Fund, or the General Fund of Salem, 4930 West Bellfort Avenue, Houston, Texas 77035.