Pansye Atkinson Given Honorary Doctorate Posthumously at FSU Commencement
Dec 19, 2024 8:15 AM

Born on June 10, 1930, in Asheville, N.C., Atkinson was the only child of Helen Chandler Smith and John E. Smith. Following her mother’s death, the 10-year-old was raised by Garland and Vivian Cooper, also of Asheville.
A gifted and trained pianist, Atkinson graduated magna cum laude from Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., where she majored in music and received a Rockefeller Foundation Award and the Bernard Fensterwald Prize for Composition in the Humanities.
Following graduation, she married William R. Atkinson of Georgetown, S.C., and moved to live with him there. They had two daughters, Diane and Kimberly.
Atkinson did further studies in education and music at South Carolina State University and taught music in the Georgetown City and County Public Schools.
When the family moved to Baltimore in 1963, she taught music in Baltimore City Public Schools and studied at Peabody Conservatory of Music and Towson State University.
In 1969, Atkinson and her husband accepted appointments at what was then Frostburg State College in Western Maryland and made their home in the Braddock Estates neighborhood of Frostburg.
The couple’s assignment by the state was to increase minority student enrollment and retention at Frostburg State, for which they received state-level commendation for the highest retention rates of all institutions reviewed by the state of Maryland. Numerous minority students credit their success at what became Frostburg State University to the dedicated work and professionalism of the couple. In 1986, she became the University’s first director of Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity.
Atkinson received her master’s in education from FSU and initiated doctoral studies at Union Graduate School in Ohio. During this time, she began extensive research on the cultural and educational effects of school desegregation, which led to her 1993 book, “Brown vs Topeka: Desegregation and Miseducation.”
Throughout her career in higher education, Atkinson continued her interests and activities in the arts, often organizing and presenting dramatic and musical programs at FSU.
After her many years at FSU, and numerous achievement awards, including the Allegany County NAACP Branch 7007 Lifetime Achievement Award, Atkinson retired in 2005, remaining in Frostburg to enjoy her extensive collection of books, magazines and music.
To watch a recording of the live stream of commencement, visit the Commencement webpage at https://www.frostburg.edu/annual-events/commencement.
Pictured, above are Al Delia, chief of staff at FSU, with Kimberly Naylor and Diane Hudson, Pansye Atkinson’s daughters.