DAVID DICKERSON died on Aug. 28, 2020, at the age of 87. Dickerson was vice president of academic affairs at Seattle Pacific College and also dean of the faculty from 1976 until 1990.
Prior to joining SPC, Dickerson taught English and literature at his alma mater, Greenville College, where he eventually headed that department.
In 1993, Dickerson announced two new positions at SPU: dean of arts and sciences and dean of professional and graduate studies. This distinction of arts and sciences served as the roots of today’s College of Arts and Sciences.
A Renaissance man, Dickerson reveled in music, literature, drama, and the visual arts. “A Shakespeare scholar, he taught courses in his academic field during his years at
SPU,” said Marilyn Severson, professor emerita of French. “I remember his quotes from Shakespeare’s plays offered in meetings, conversations, and presentations.”
Dickerson left SPU in 1992 to teach at Judson University in Illinois for seven years before he and his wife, Betty Ann, retired in Seattle. In retirement, he taught several semesters in China and Kenya.
Dickerson is survived by his wife and their children, GEOFFREY DICKERSON ’80, DAVID RAY ’86, and LISA DICKERSON ’89, along with the extended Dickerson family.
