Michael Hooker

Michael Hooker
In office 1995–1999
Preceded by	Paul Hardin
Succeeded by	William Octavius McCoy
In office 1986–1992
Preceded by	John W. Dorsey
Succeeded by	Freeman Hrabowski III
In office 1982–1986
Personal details
Born	1946 Richlands, Virginia
Died	June 29, 1999 Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Spouse	Carmen DeFrates
Children	Alexandra Hooker
Profession	Philosopher

Michael Kenneth Hooker (1946–1999) was an American academic who served as President of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Bennington College

Early life

Hooker was born in 1946 in Richlands, Virginia. A son of a coal miner, Hooker was the first in his family to attend college. He chose to study philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and then going on to pursue his doctoral degree at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Academia

After receiving his Ph.D., Hooker began to teach philosophy at Harvard University and the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. In 1975, he became dean at Johns Hopkins University until 1982 when he moved to Vermont to become the president of Bennington College. Four years later, Hooker returned to Baltimore to become the president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and then left in 1992 to become the president of the University of Massachusetts system. At UMBC, Hooker enhanced the quality of the university by attracting more students from around the state. Finally, in 1995 he became the eight president of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill until his death in 1999. At UNC Chapel Hill, he made computer literacy a top priority, preparing students for the technological changes of the twenty-first century.

Death

Michael Hooker died from complications of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.