Robert Prentiss Daniel

In September 1929, Daniel married Blanche Ardell Taylor of Richmond. Taylor died before her husband, and in December 1966, Daniel remarried to North Carolina socialite Marie Plummer Orsot. ==Academic career==

Robert P. Daniel graduated magna cum laude from Virginia Union University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1924. He was valedictorian and his class secretary. Upon graduation, he worked as an instructor of mathematics and freshman English for two years, and in 1926 he worked as an assistant professor of education. Daniel attended Columbia University for his graduate schooling, receiving a master's degree in education in 1928 and a Ph.D. in educational psychology in 1932. Concurrently and until 1936, he worked as a professor of education and psychology and Director of the Extension Division at Virginia Union University. Between 1932 and 1936, Daniel worked at Virginia Union University as Director of the Division of Educational Psychology and Philosophy. During the summers of 1935 and 1936, Daniel worked as a visiting professor of education at Hampton Institute in Virginia. In 1936, at 33 years old, Daniel became President of Shaw University in North Carolina. In 1950, the Virginia State Board of Education elected Daniel as president of Virginia State College, where he worked until his death in 1968. ==Notable scholarship==

Robert P. Daniel made significant contributions to educational psychology and Black psychology throughout his career. His premier scholarship "A Psychological Study of Delinquent Negro Boys" was published in 1932 in The Journal of Negro Education. The first contribution in its field, Daniel discusses perceived differences in character and personality traits of "behavior-problem" and "non-problem" In 1960, as President of Virginia State College, Daniel published "Relationship of the Negro Public College and the Negro Private and Church- Related College," which describes the status of Black higher education . Private and college-related colleges, first established by White missionaries during Reconstruction, preceded publicly funded Black institutions. Publicly funded colleges, while having a slower establishment, became the choice higher education option for the majority of Blacks by the mid-1940s. In examining this change, Daniel explains that lower cost, more extensive curricula, and better faculties and facilities than specialized private- or church-related colleges explain the rise in enrollment at publicly funded Black colleges. Daniel concludes that despite the different routes Black youth take in attaining higher education, their success in life is dependent on an individual's ability to make their lives "count for good." == List of publications ==

• A Psychological Study of Delinquent Negro Boys • Personality Differences Between Delinquent and Non-Delinquent Negro Boys • Negro-White Differences in Non-Intellectual Traits, and in Special Abilities • One Consideration of Redirection of Emphasis of the Negro College • The Impact of War Upon the Church-Related College and University • The Curriculum of the Negro College • Relationship of the Negro Public College and the Negro Private and Church- Related College ==Contributions==

Robert P. Daniel was affiliated with a number of professional organizations, including the American Psychological Association, National Association for the Study of Negro Life, American Association of School Administrators, American Teachers Association, and the National Education Association. In 1948, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Award in Education from the National Urban League. ==Footnotes==