In Memoriam: Denise Michelle Chapman Montgomery, 1959-2020

Denise Montgomery, the founding dean of the College of Health Sciences at Alabama State University, died late last month. She was 60 years old.

A native of Chicago, Dr. Montgomery grew up in West Des Moines, Iowa. She earned a bachelor’s degree in interpersonal communication at Marquette University in Milwaukee. She earned a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction and a Ph.D. in higher education at the University of Iowa.

Dr. Chapman started her professional career in 1987 as an assistant professor in the School of Allied Health Sciences at Florida A&M University. From 1990 to 1998, Dr. Montgomery taught at Langston University in Oklahoma. She joined the faculty at Alabama State University in 1998 and served as dean of the College Health Sciences and chair of the physical therapy program. She retired due to health problems in 2012 and was named dean emerita. At that time, Alabama State renamed its Buskey Auditorium/Lecture Hall in her honor