Mildred Catherine “Katy” Dawson (’48, ’49 M.S.), 93, of Denton, who had served as an adjunct professor of Spanish and was a member of the President’s Council for her generous donations, died April 1.

She was a longtime member of the UNT Alumni Association and former president of the Women of UNT.

She met her husband, the late David Dawson ('47, '48 M.S.), during her first year as a student, and all six of their children earned degrees from UNT. In fact, she was part of five generations of her family with ties to campus, beginning with her grandfather W.N. Masters, founder of the chemistry department. Read more about the family in our 2017 article.

In addition to earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees, Katy took postgraduate classes at UNT, the University of Texas at Austin and Instituto de Filologia Española in Saltillo, Mexico.

Her husband served on the math faculty at North Texas for 27 years, and after all their children were in school, Katy taught Spanish as an adjunct. In 1986, she received the Honor Professor Award from the Meadows Foundation for helping to develop a Spanish program for the students in the Meadows Excellence in Teaching Program.

After David’s death in 2011, Katy established the David F. Dawson Endowment for Student Excellence in his memory, to provide scholarships to high-performing mathematics students.

She was passionate about philanthropy and volunteering. She was a member of the First United Methodist Church and its adult handbell ensemble, and she served as president of the Denton Benefit League and Ann’s Haven Hospice/VNA Auxiliary.