Posted on Friday, October 06, 2023
Dr. Dianne Jemison Pollard, Retired Dean, Thomas F. Freeman Honors College
It is with deep sadness to announce that Dr. Dianne Jemison Pollard peacefully transitioned to be with the Lord on October 4, 2023. Dr. Jemison Pollard was survived by her son Edward (Vanessa), daughter Celestine, grandchildren EJ and Nadia, sister Bettye Wagner and brother Ted Jemison. She was predeceased by her mother Celestine Catlett Jemison and father Rev. Dr. TJ Jemison.
The Home Going Celebration will be held on Monday, October 16th, at the historic Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, 500 Clay St. Houston, Texas, at 10:30 am, doors open at 9:30 am. The family requests that guests be seated by 10:00 am. The family respectfully requests to please refrain from reaching out during this private time of grief and reflection. Dr. Jemison Pollard was a strong woman of faith, who loved her family, colleagues, friends, and students. She was an extraordinary woman in many ways and will be missed but never forgotten. More on the life of Dr. Dianne Jemison Pollard can be found below:
Dr. Dianne Jemison Pollard retired from Texas Southern University in December 2022 after forty four years of distinguished service, and fifty years as an educator. Dr. Jemison Pollard was the Dean of the Thomas F. Freeman Honors College and Professor of Theatre in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts. For over ten years, Dr. Jemison Pollard served as the Chairperson of the Department of Fine Arts at TSU (Art, Music, and Theatre). In her tenured service to the University she served as Director and Area Coordinator of Theatre, Education Coordinator for the Deluxe Theater, and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the Thomas F. Freeman Honors College.
Dr. Jemison Pollard was an award-winning university stage director who directed over fifty productions from Greek and Shakespeare to Contemporary Theatre, Musicals and Children’s Theatre. She wrote eighteen religious pageants that have been produced around the globe. Her academic and creative pursuits have taken her to many places internationally, and across the United States.
She earned her BA degree in Speech and Drama from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, MA degree in Communications-Theatre from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin, MFA degree in Directing from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and Ed. D degree in Counseling from Texas Southern University. Her dissertation was titled, “The Use of Music to Improve Social skills Development in Children Diagnosed with Autism.”
Dr. Jemison Pollard was civically engaged as a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and the Links Spring Cypress Chapter. She was active in church as a member of the women’s ministry, choir, usher board, and trustee. On December 14, 2022, Mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner, presented Dr. Jemison Pollard with a Proclamation naming the day in her honor during her retirement ceremony.
Dr. Dianne Jemison Pollard wore many titles, but the title she cherished the most was the title of Mom. Every effort she made was for the benefit of her children and grandchildren. Her father, Rev. Dr. TJ Jemison was a pioneer in the civil rights movement organizing the first bus boycott in Baton Rouge, LA in 1953. Rev. Jemison served as the mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., helping him construct the strategy for the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955. Rev. Jemison was the pastor of Mt. Zion First Baptist Church in Baton Rouge for over fifty years and was also elected president of the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc., the largest religious group of African Americans in the country. Dr. Jemison Pollard’s faith in God never wavered and she was comforted daily knowing her walk in Christ would lead to eternal life.
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