Payton, Carolyn R., 1925-2001

Carolyn Robertson Payton (b. May 13, 1925, Norfolk, VA–d. April 11, 2001); attended Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina, majoring in home economics, graduated in 1945; MS, clinical psychology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1948; Ed.D., counseling and student administration, Columbia University, Teachers College, 1962; instructor in psychology, Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina, 1948-1953; Dean of Women and a psychology instructor at Elizabeth City State Teachers College (now Elizabeth City State University) in North Carolina, 1953-1956; associate professor of psychology at Virginia State College in Petersburg, Virginia, 1956-1959; assistant professor in psychology, Dean of Counseling and Career Development, Director of University Counseling Services at Howard University, 1959-1995 (break for Peace Corps); started at the Peace Corps as a field assignment officer in 1964 in West Africa; appointed Deputy Country Director for the Caribbean, 1966, appointed as Country Director for the Caribbean region, 1967; appointed Director of the Peace Corps by President Jimmy Carter, 1977-1978, first female and first African American to be Peace Corps Director; active in American Psychological Association

Carolyn R. Payton, 75, a retired Howard University director of counseling services who was the first woman and first black director of the Peace Corps, died April 11 at her home in Washington after a heart attack; President Jimmy Carter nominated Dr. Payton, a veteran Peace Corps staffer and trained psychologist, to head the volunteer assistance organization in 1977; Dr. Payton, a Washington resident, was a native of Norfolk. She graduated from Bennett College in Greensboro, N.C. She received a master's degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin and a doctorate in counseling and school administration from Columbia University; She was a professor of psychology at Livingstone College in Salisbury, N.C., Virginia State University and what is now Elizabeth City (N.C.) State University; Survivors include a sister, Jean Robertson Scott of Washington.