Joanne King Corbett, a long-time member of the faculty at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, died on December 19 at a hospital in Wilmington. She was 85 years old.
Dr. Corbett was a native of Florence, South Carolina. She was a graduate of Coker College in Hartsville, South Carolina, and went on to earn a Ph.D. at the age of 21 from the University of Montreal.
Professor Corbett received a Fulbright Fellowship to the Sorbonne in Paris and later taught at the Mangold Institute in Madrid. She joined the faculty of what was then called Wilmington College in 1958. She was the first woman on the faculty who held a Ph.D. Dr. Corbett remained on the faculty at what became the University of North Carolina, Wilmington for more than 40 years. She was named professor emerita upon her retirement in 1999.
During her long career in higher education, Professor Corbett served on the boards of Coker College and Cape Fear Community College.