Alan Dodd

Died

DODD Dr. ALAN LESLIE DODD Dr. Alan Leslie Dodd, age 90, of Burtonsville, Maryland, passed away on July 21, 2019 surrounded by his family. Dr. Dodd was born in Washington DC and lived most of his life in Montgomery County, Maryland. He graduated from Montgomery Blair High School in 1947 and received a Senatorial Scholarship to attend Western Maryland College. He was inducted into the Montgomery Blair High School Alumni Hall of Fame in 2014 for his impact on education and social justice in Montgomery County. He began his career as an elementary school teacher at the experimental Parkside School in Silver Spring. He was quickly promoted to principal at age 27. In 1955, shortly after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, Dr. Dodd helped lead the integration of little league baseball in Montgomery County as the coach of the Takoma Tigers, one of the first integrated teams. Dr. Dodd was a progressive leader who confronted many of the most pressing educational issues of the mid-twentieth cen- tury over a career in the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) that spanned 31 years. During the curriculum reform movement of the 1960s, he helped found the Outdoor Education Program in MCPS and led the school system's efforts to secure a site to build the Lathrop E. Smith Environmental Education Center. He received his doctorate degree from the George Washington University in 1968. In the 1970s, Dr. Dodd was appointed the first director of Quality Integrated Education in MCPS. He led the design and implementation of paired schools in adjacent Silver Spring and Chevy Chase communities to reduce racial and socioeconomic isolation, an approach that was emulated by other school systems across the nation. Dr. Dodd pushed for the creation of an MCPS logo resulting in the design of the lamp of knowledge which still symbolizes MCPS. He retired from the school system in 1983 as an associate superintendent and embarked on a 17 year second career with Dewberry & Davis Engineering and Architecture. Dr. Dodd liked to say that the quote that signified the way he viewed his life's work was from Robert F. Kennedy: "Some men see things and ask why. I dream of things that never were, and ask why not." Dr. Dodd's beloved wife Beverly B. Dodd passed away in 1984 and he is survived by Dr. James E. Dodd and Mrs. Elizabeth Dodd of Winchester, Virginia, Mr. Frederick Beiter and Mrs. Jennifer Dodd Beiter of Mt. Airy, Maryland, Dr. Robert W. Dodd and Mrs. Jennifer G. Dodd of Silver Spring, Maryland, and his six loving grandchildren. His family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the George B. Thomas Learning Academy at www.saturdayschool [saturdayschool] or checks can be mailed to GBTLA at Sligo Middle School, 1401 Dennis Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland, 20906. A date for a memorial service will be announced at a later time.tury over a career in the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) that spanned 31 years. During the curriculum reform movement of the 1960s, he helped found the Outdoor Education Program in MCPS and led the school system's efforts to secure a site to build the Lathrop E. Smith Environmental Education Center. He received his doctorate degree from the George Washington University in 1968. In the 1970s, Dr. Dodd was appointed the first director of Quality Integrated Education in MCPS. He led the design and implementation of paired schools in adjacent Silver Spring and Chevy Chase communities to reduce racial and socioeconomic isolation, an approach that was emulated by other school systems across the nation. Dr. Dodd pushed for the creation of an MCPS logo resulting in the design of the lamp of knowledge which still symbolizes MCPS. He retired from the school system in 1983 as an associate superintendent and embarked on a 17 year second career with Dewberry & Davis Engineering and Architecture. Dr. Dodd liked to say that the quote that signified the way he viewed his life's work was from Robert F. Kennedy: "Some men see things and ask why. I dream of things that never were, and ask why not." Dr. Dodd's beloved wife Beverly B. Dodd passed away in 1984 and he is survived by Dr. James E. Dodd and Mrs. Elizabeth Dodd of Winchester, Virginia, Mr. Frederick Beiter and Mrs. Jennifer Dodd Beiter of Mt. Airy, Maryland, Dr. Robert W. Dodd and Mrs. Jennifer G. Dodd of Silver Spring, Maryland, and his six loving grandchildren. His family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the George B. Thomas Learning Academy at www.saturdayschool [saturdayschool] or checks can be mailed to GBTLA at Sligo Middle School, 1401 Dennis Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland, 20906. A date for a memorial service will be announced at a later time.

Source: The Washington Post

Published on: 26-07-2019