Donald G. Phelps, 73; Leader of 2 Community College Districts

Donald G. Phelps, the first African American to lead the community college systems in Los Angeles and Seattle, died Saturday in Austin, Texas, after a short illness. He was 73.

He had spent two decades in public education when he was recruited to helm the nine-campus Los Angeles Community College District in 1988.

Phelps was the unanimous choice as chancellor in Los Angeles because of his congenial personality and record in helping students and decentralizing authority, college trustees said at the time. Three other finalists were considered.

He became head of the nation’s largest community college district after a period marked by faculty dissension and budget problems, which had led to the ouster of his predecessor, Leslie Koltai.

Phelps remained in the job for five years, a period during which the district gained some financial stability and improved relations with its instructors.

“Don has brought us through some of the most difficult times any college district ever faced, with wisdom and a strong will,” then-board President Wallace Knox said in 1993, when Phelps announced that he was leaving to take a university teaching post in Texas.

His departure from the Los Angeles district came as community colleges throughout California faced fee-hike proposals and cuts in state funding.

Phelps had come to Los Angeles from the three-campus Seattle community college system, where he had served as chancellor from 1984 to 1988. Before becoming chancellor in Seattle, he had been president of one of its campuses, Seattle Community College.

His most recent posts included chairing the department of educational administration at the University of Texas and heading its Men’s Intercollegiate Athletics Council.

Earlier in his career, Phelps was a top manager for King County, Wash.; directed a federal anti-alcoholism program in Washington, D.C.; and served as principal of a junior high school and an elementary school in his native Seattle.

From 1968 to 1972, he was a news commentator on ABC-affiliated television and radio stations who spoke regularly on race relations.

Phelps earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education in 1959 and 1963, respectively, from Seattle University. He received a doctorate in education from the University of Washington in 1983.

In 1998, he was honored with a National Leadership Award from the American Assn. of Community Colleges.

He is survived by his wife, Pamela; a daughter, Dawn; two sons, Michael and Richard; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.