1st Professor Hired at Valley College Dies

The first professor hired at Valley College in Valley Glen died Tuesday after being hospitalized for three weeks. James L. Dodson, a Princeton University graduate and Fulbright scholar, was the first of 23 faculty members hired in 1949, the year Valley College was established.

Dodson was battling cancer when he died at Glendale Adventist Medical Center. He was 89 years old.

Dodson played an important role in developing the overall curriculum during the college’s early years and taught Greek and Roman history and Latin for 35 years, college officials said Wednesday. Dodson also established a campus museum that was the first dedicated to the history of the San Fernando Valley. Dodson’s name is still on the museum’s door.

Austin Conover, Dodson’s best friend and the current museum director, said then-President Vierling Kersey “didn’t know much about running a college, so he really relied on” Dodson.

Dodson was born in Clinton, Mo., and studied at the University of Colorado and earned his doctorate at Princeton University. After a brief teaching stint at the University of Texas, Dodson moved to the Valley to work at the fledgling community college.

Angelo S. Villa, who worked as a Valley College administrator and faculty member for 41 years, said Dodson was ever the dapper, refined gentleman.

“He was a rather reserved person,” said Villa. “He was considered very strict in class, a hard grader and a very demanding teacher. His standards were very high.”

Villa said Dodson did not socialize and would rarely be seen on campus when not doing work. Dodson also contrasted quietly, but starkly, with the informality of the 1960s campus scene.

“I never saw him when he was not in a suit,” said Villa. Dodson was also known for the vigor with which he delved into his field of study. “He was head over heels with the classical world,” Villa said.

Conover said Dodson accepted a Fulbright Fellowship to the University of Rome and subsequently led nine student field trips to tromp around the great imperial city.

Conover said Dodson wrote several books about Roman and Greek history. In 1974 Dodson founded the Valley College Historical Museum, which has one of the Valley’s largest collections of local memorabilia and artifacts. He retained the title of curator until his death.

Dodson is survived by two adult daughters.

Services for Dodson will take place at Forest Lawn in the Hollywood Hills at 11 a.m. Saturday.