Robert Prentiss Daniel | |
---|---|
President of Shaw University | |
In office 1936–1950 |
|
Preceded by | William Stuart Nelson |
Succeeded by | William Russell Strassner |
President of Virginia State College | |
In office 1950–1968 |
|
Preceded by | James Hugo Johnston, Jr. |
Succeeded by | James Franklin Tucker |
Personal details | |
Born | November 2, 1902 Ettricks, Virginia |
Died | January 5, 1968 (aged 65) Petersburg, Virginia |
Nationality | English |
Spouse(s) |
Blanche Ardell Taylor (1929) Marie Plummer Orsot (1966-1968) |
Alma mater | Columbia University |
Profession | Scholar, Educator |
Blanche Ardell Taylor (1929)
Robert Prentiss Daniel (November 2, 1902 – January 5, 1968) was an African-American psychologist, scholar, and college administrator. Born in Ettricks, Virginia to Charles James and Carrie Daniel, he was the sixth of eight children.
In September 1929, Daniel married Blanche Ardell Taylor of Richmond. Taylor died before her husband, and in December 1966, Daniel remarried to North Carolina socialite Marie Plummer Orsot.
Robert P. Daniel graduated magna cum laude from Virginia Union University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1924. He was valedictorian and his class secretary. Upon graduation, he worked as an instructor of mathematics and freshman English for two years, and in 1926 he worked as an assistant professor of education. Daniel attended Columbia University for his graduate schooling, receiving a master's degree in education in 1928 and a Ph.D. in educational psychology in 1932. Concurrently and until 1936, he worked as a professor of education and psychology and Director of the Extension Division at Virginia Union University. Between 1932 and 1936, Daniel worked at Virginia Union University as Director of the Division of Educational Psychology and Philosophy. During the summers of 1935 and 1936, Daniel worked as a visiting professor of education at Hampton Institute in Virginia.
In 1936, at 33 years old, Daniel became President of Shaw University in North Carolina.
In 1950, the Virginia State Board of Education elected Daniel as president of Virginia State College, where he worked until his death in 1968.
Robert P. Daniel made significant contributions to educational psychology and Black psychology throughout his career. His premier scholarship “A Psychological Study of Delinquent Negro Boys” was published in 1932 in The Journal of Negro Education. The first contribution in its field, Daniel’s discusses perceived differences in character and personality traits of “behavior-problem” and “non-problem” Black boys. He administered seven tests which measured mental ability, neurotic instability, personality, personal aptitudes, moral knowledge, and trustworthiness. By comparing the results of the aforementioned tests between the problems and non-problem boys, he concludes that the two groups exhibited differences in the things they do and the degree they feel. Daniel's aimed for his work to be a foundation in the field of Black youth delinquency and personality traits.