Elnora D. Daniel was an American nurse and educator. She served as president of

Chicago State University Chicago State University (CSU) is a Historically black colleges and universities, predominantly black (PBI) public university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It includes an honors program for undergraduates and offers bachelor's and master ...

from 1998 to 2008. In 1986, she became the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

president of the Virginia State Board of Nursing in 1986.

Early life and education

Elnora Daniel was born in

Oxford, North Carolina Oxford is a town in Granville County, North Carolina, United States, with a population of 8,628 as of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Granville County. History The town's history dates to 1761, when local legislator Samuel Benton bui ...

on November 19, 1941. After graduating from high school in 1959, she enrolled in

North Carolina A&T State University North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public university, public, Historically black colleges and universities, historicall ...

, earning a bachelor's degree in 1964. In 1968, she earned a

Master of Education The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum an ...

degree from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. In 1972, she enrolled in the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III and Queen Mary II, it is the second-oldest instit ...

, and later earned a

Doctor of Education Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded ...

degree from Columbia University.

Career

After earning her bachelor's degree, Daniel worked as a

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

at the New York Medical Center. She joined the faculty of

Hampton University Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missiona ...

in 1968, and became Dean of the School of Nursing in 1980. In 1985, she Dean of Hampton's Interdisciplinary Nursing Centre for Health and Wellness. In 1986, she became the second African American member of the VIrginia State Board of Nursing, and the first African American to serve as its president. Daniel was appointed Vice President of Academic Affairs at Hampton in 1991, and became

Provost Provost may refer to: Officials Ecclesiastic * Provost (religion), a high-ranking church official * Prince-provost, a high-ranking church official Government * Provost (civil), an officer of local government, including the equivalent ...

of Hampton University in 1995. Daniel became the president of

in 1998, a position she held for ten years. She resigned from CSU in 2008, having faced criticism for her spending practices, which included approving the publication of a

coffee table book A coffee table book, also known as a cocktail table book, is an oversized, usually hard-covered book whose purpose is for display on a table intended for use in an area in which one entertains guests and which can serve to inspire conversation o ...

in her own honor. The publication of the book cost $18,000, which was charged to her official account as university president. In a state audit, it was also revealed that Daniel had spent more than $15,000 of university funds travelling to a leadership conference on a cruise ship with five family members. She returned to Hampton in 2008 as a Special Assistant to the President for Research. In addition to her career as an academic administrator, Daniel worked with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation as a healthcare consultant for some African nations, including

Swaziland Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where ...

and

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

. Daniel also served as a nurse in the United States military. In 1972, she became a Captain of the U.S. Air Force Reserve, and in 1979, she transferred to the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, and eventually achieved the rank of Colonel. Daniel served as Chief Nurse, 18th Field Hospital in Virginia before being transferred to found a training school at the 2076th U.S. Army Reserve School in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

. In 2001, she was interviewed by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

as part of the

Veterans History Project The Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress American Folklife Center (commonly known as the Veterans History Project) was created by the United States Congress in 2000 to collect and preserve the firsthand remembrances of U.S. wartime ...

Death

Elora D. Daniel died on March 4, 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniel, Elnora D. People from Oxford, North Carolina African-American women academic administrators American women academic administrators African-American women nurses Hampton University faculty Chicago State University faculty North Carolina A&T State University alumni Columbia University alumni 1941 births WikiProject Women in Red meetup 331 articles