John Foster Curry, Denton, Professor Emeritus of education who worked at North Texas from 1956 to 1984, died Nov. 25. He was the director of admission to teacher education and chaired the divisions of interprofessional studies and educational and social foundations. He later was an assistant dean in the College of Education. He received his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in educational administration from Indiana University. He taught public school and was a principal in Indiana, Ohio and Alaska before joining North Texas. He was a decorated veteran of World War II, serving in the 88th Division of the U.S. Army in North Africa and Italy. He was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star and the Purple Heart with two oak leaf clusters.

Elisabeth McCullar Jamison, Denton, former instructor of English at North Texas, died Dec. 27. She earned bachelor’s degrees from TWU and taught music and English in Plainview and Hadley before teaching at North Texas. Later she worked as the society editor for the Denton Record-Chronicle. She was president of the Legislative Wives Club in Austin while her husband, Alonzo W. Jamison Jr. (’39), was a member of the Texas House of Representatives. She was a lifetime member of the UNT President’s Council.

Kjell Mathias Johansen, Richardson, assistant professor of foreign languages and literatures who worked at North Texas from 1964 to 2003, died Dec. 8. He moved to the U.S. from Norway in 1956 and studied English at the University of Texas at Austin for his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He taught German at North Texas for more than 35 years, as an instructor, a director in the language lab and an assistant professor. After retiring from UNT, he taught English as a second language at Brookhaven College and translated patents, medical trials and product user guides from Norwegian and Swedish. 

Harve D. King, Austin, one of UNT’s pioneer African American administrators, who worked at North Texas from 1969 to 1986, died Jan. 26. He came to North Texas as assistant dean of students and was appointed associate dean in 1983. Well known on campus for his efforts to encourage and support students, he was affectionately called “Mean Dean King.” He served in the U.S. Army during World War II in New Guinea and the Northern Solomon Islands. He earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Texas College in Marshall and a master’s in education from Prairie View A&M College. King also earned a certificate in educational administration from Teachers College of Columbia University and completed additional courses at the University of Texas at Austin and Southwest Texas State College. Before joining North Texas, he was an assistant principal and principal within Smith County Public Schools and the Austin ISD. He worked for the Texas Educational Foundation Gary Job Corps in San Marcos from 1967 to 1969. In a 2001 Dallas Morning News profile, he said he’d like his epitaph to read, “Life has been good to me.” His interview in the UNT oral history collection is online at http:://www.unt.edu/50yearsofprogress/oralhistory/kingh.htm.

James W. Smith, Denton, food service manager in the University Union from 1990 to 1997, died Oct. 12. He was known to earlier students as the owner of Jim’s Diner on Fry Street, which opened in 1979.

Kevin Allan Yoder, Denton, associate professor of sociology since 2003, died Dec. 11. His areas of research included social statistics, research methods, and suicidality and mental illness among homeless adolescents. He earned his bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College in mathematics and economics, and earned two master’s degrees in statistics and sociology and a doctorate in sociology, all from Iowa State University. He was a postdoctoral trainee at the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research at Rutgers University.

William 'Bill' Booth Warde Jr., Denton, associate professor of English at North Texas from 1965 to 2005, died Oct. 29. He was the director of the University Writing Center from its inception as the Student Use of English program in 1978 until he retired in 2005. He was a member of the Faculty Senate and also held leadership positions with the South-Central Modern Language Association and the Southern Humanities Conference. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota and master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Arkansas. He also was an artist and sculptor who often used found objects and humor in his work. In a 2001 North Texan profile, Warde said, “Since we walk this path but once, let’s squeeze the most we can out of it.”

Candy King, Ponder, administrative assistant in the Department of Biology who had worked at UNT since 1990, died Oct. 7. She worked in the department’s Institute of Applied Science, supporting the environmental science program.

C. Neal Tate, former dean of the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies and Regents Professor of political science, who worked at UNT from 1970 to 2003, died Sept. 13. He was serving as a professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at Vanderbilt University and also held an appointment at Vanderbilt Law School.

Tate received his bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest University and master’s and doctoral degrees from Tulane University. His research specialties included comparative and American judicial politics, Third World politics and the military in politics. He was twice named a Fulbright-Hays senior research fellow, traveling to Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines in 1987 and 1994 to conduct research on the Philippine Supreme Court. From 1994 to 1996, he directed the law and social science program at the National Science Foundation while on leave from UNT.

He was chair of the political science department from 1980 to 1986 and served as graduate dean from 1997 to 2003, before joining Vanderbilt. He published extensively, most recently co-writing a report for the U.S. Agency for International Development in 2008 and co-writing an article on the law and human rights abuse published in the April 2009 Journal of Politics. He also was working on a book project, Political Repression, Human Rights and the Rule of Law: The Global Picture, 1976-2005, and was serving as the 2009-10 president of the Southern Political Science Association.

Claudia Barger Mosley, Denton, an instructor in the English department from 1962 to 1981, died July 4. Born in Alpine, she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Sul Ross University before joining the North Texas faculty.