Leroy E. Giles, a professor and former chairman of English at the Catonsville campus of the Community College of Baltimore County who sought to improve education for minority students, died Oct. 27 at Washington Hospital Center of cardiac arrest after a stroke. He was 73 and had lived for almost 30 years in Holly Manor in Catonsville.
Mr. Giles joined the Catonsville Community College faculty as an assistant professor of English in 1967 and served as the department chairman from 1969 until 1984. He retired in 1994.
"To be named as chair of the English department -- it was a big deal in the history of diversity of higher education," said Gloria John, a professor emeritus of English and his friend and colleague of more than 30 years.
"He would often give, at school and other places, sessions on teaching minorities," she said. "The question he was concerned with was how to create the best educational environment for minorities within the diversity of an academic institution."
In 1986, Mr. Giles was named one of the top 50 professors in the United States by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and by the American Association of Higher Education, and pictured in Change magazine for his extraordinary leadership. In 1993, he was chosen by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development as one of the top 50 community college faculty members.
"Above all," Ms. John said, "he was a person who dedicated himself to excellence in teaching and to student learning." At Catonsville, Mr. Giles was the first director of the Center for Teaching Excellence, set up to provide programs for teachers on campus.
Mr. Giles had a booming and contagious laugh, she said, and he believed in giving compliments and encouragement.
He served as a consultant for numerous groups, including Baltimore County's Advisory Council for Racial and Cultural Concerns, the Institute for Service to Education and a curriculum-resources group in Boston.
In addition, Mr. Giles had served as president of the Holly Manor Improvement Association, as a chairman of the board of the Friends of Banneker Historical Park, as a member of the board of directors of Center Stage and as a member of the arts councils of Maryland, Howard and Baltimore counties.
He had boxed and played football and basketball, and he coached both school sports and winning debate teams.
Born in Lynchburg, Va., Mr. Giles was a 1947 graduate of Dunbar High School in Washington, and earned his bachelor's degree in English in 1951 from Lincoln (Pa.) University, where he was valedictorian. He received a master's degree in English from Yale University in 1955.
He served with the Marine Corps in Korea, working in an intelligence unit as a clerk typist from 1952 to 1954.
In 1955 and 1956, he taught English at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., then came to Maryland and taught at Morgan State University from 1956 to 1962. He also held positions at Howard University, where he served as acting chairman and directed its Upward Bound pre-college program in 1966.
Mr. Giles sang and directed choirs at Shiloh Baptist Church in Lorton, Va., and at St. John Baptist Church in Columbia, where funeral services were held yesterday.
There will be a memorial service at 3 p.m. Nov. 14 at the Catonsville campus at 800 S. Rolling Road.
He is survived by Mary Giles, of Woodlawn, whom he married in 1961; son Brian Edward Giles of Woodlawn; daughter Thomasina M. Giles of Catonsville; stepson Joris Brooks of Woodlawn; a brother, Carl Giles of Lorton, Va.; two grandchildren; three step-grandchildren; and four step-great-grandchildren. He has a son, Leroy Edward Giles Jr. of Washington, and a daughter, Teresina Giles Hairston of Stroudsburg, Pa., from a marriage to Theresa Giles of Washington.
Sun researcher Jean Packard contributed to this article.